Rhubarb and Strawberry Freeform Tart

Raspberries could be substituted for the strawberries, as could slices of juicy plum. Whatever is selected as the second fruit, it must take no more than 10 minutes to cook. The amaretti and crushed almond mixture that is scattered over the pastry and through the fruit was inspired by a mention of the combination in Alice Waters’ book Chez Panisse Fruit. If you don’t want to include almonds, substitute ground-up gingernut biscuits for the Italian amaretti biscuits and the crushed almonds. Amaretti biscuits include sweet and bitter almonds and are flavoured with the oil from almond kernels or almond essence.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• plain flour, for dusting
• 1 quantity Basic Shortcrust Pastry (see page 327)
• 750 g rhubarb stalks, washed and trimmed, leaves discarded
• ½ cup (125 ml) hot water
• ½ cup (110 g) caster sugar
• juice of 1 orange
• 6–8 strawberries, hulled and halved
• double cream, to serve

Almond and amaretti mixture

• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 50 g raw almonds, coarsely crushed
• 2 tablespoons crushed amaretti
• biscuits (about 6–8)

Method

On a workbench dusted with plain flour, roll pastry until 5 mm thick to form a 26 cm round. Transfer to a baking paper-lined baking tray and chill. If rhubarb stalks are more than 2 cm wide, slit in half lengthways (my home-grown rhubarb stalks were quite thin, so this wasn’t necessary) and then cut widthways into 3 cm-long pieces.

Simmer water, sugar and orange juice in a small stainless-steel saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Drop rhubarb into syrup, turn to mix, then cover and cook for 3 minutes only. Drain rhubarb in a sieve resting over a bowl, reserving syrup.

Transfer rhubarb to another bowl and leave to cool.

To make the almond and amaretti mixture, mix the flour, sugar, crushed almonds and crushed biscuits.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Mix ¼ cup (3 tablespoons) of almond/amaretti mixture into cooled rhubarb. Scatter another 3–4 tablespoons of this mixture over the chilled pastry round, leaving a 4 cm border. Pile rhubarb over almond/amaretti mixture, then even it out and ‘trap’ it by folding pastry edges up and over fruit, crimping and pleating as you go. Bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, tip reserved poaching syrup into a small frying pan and reduce over high heat for 1-2 minutes until syrupy. Set aside. Remove tart from oven, press rhubarb down with an egg lifter and place halved strawberries on top. Brush some syrup over pastry edges and dab a little over the fruit. Bake for a further 10 minutes.

Slide baking tray onto a cake cooling rack. Cool tart for a few minutes and then brush with more syrup, then leave to cool further. Don’t attempt to slide tart onto a serving platter until it has cooled down. Serve slices of cooled tart with spoonfuls of double cream.