I am always inspired by the beautiful desserts at La Tartine Gourmande, so when we decided to cook dinner for my in-laws for Mother’s Day, I finally got around to making these rhubarb tartlets that have been on my list for ages.  If you use ready-made puff pastry, as I did, they come together very quickly, but make for quite an elegant presentation.  The almond-brown sugar crumble underneath gets a nice bite from freshly grated ginger, which I love with the tartness of the rhubarb.

Ginger Rhubarb Tarts  

3 or 4 large stalks of rhubarb, or several thin ones
1-2 T granulated sugar (or to taste)

1/3 c brown sugar
3 T finely chopped almonds
2″ piece of ginger, grated
salt

1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed
3 T butter

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut the rhubarb into sticks, 3″ long and about 1/2″ wide. Toss with the sugar. Leave in a colander or on paper towels to drain off some of its water.

Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the crumble: brown sugar, almonds, ginger, and a pinch of salt. Let it stand while you prepare the crust, so the flavors meld a bit.

Roll out the puff pastry so it’s a little thinner than it comes in the package (maybe 3/16″? I’m terrible at estimating these things). Cut it into rectangles about 1/2″ wider than the sticks of rhubarb, and 4-5″ long. Optional: brush the edges with a little bit of melted butter. Sprinkle each rectangle with the crumble and top with several sticks of rhubarb. Dot lightly with butter.

Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 F for about 20 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden. Serve warm or at room temperature. I wished I had some lightly sweetened whipped cream to top them with, although they were plenty tasty without it.

Tags: Dessert, rhubarb, tart

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 6:34 am and is filed under Dessert, Fruit, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.