I’ll get the mandatory text out of the way first this time: The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800′s in England.

I’ve posted a chocolate bakewell tart once before on this site, but I have never had the “regular” version.  A traditional bakewell tart contains a shortcrust pastry, filled with some kind of fruit, and topped with frangipane.  The frangipane filling is light and spongy, flavored mostly from the almonds.  For the Daring Bakers challenge, we had to include the shortcrust pastry and frangipane but could use whatever fruit filling we wanted.

I decided to make a rhubarb compote to fill my tarts.  We were watering some plants for some friends that are out of town and noticed that they had a meyer lemon tree.  Since there happened to be a ripe one, and I already knew I liked the combination of Meyer lemon and rhubarb, I brought it home and added its juice and zest to the rhubarb.  I also ended up flavoring the rhubarb with lavender by adding a few stems while it stewed.

The almond frangipane is really pretty sweet, so the rhubarb compote was a good match as the tartness helped to cut the sweet filling.  Still, it was almost too sweet for me, and I’m glad I decided to halve the recipe and make small tarts instead of a large pie-sized tart as the orginal recipe called for.  And I’m definitely looking forward to eating the leftover compote on pancakes (like this morning) and ice cream.  Overall, I enjoyed the flavor of these tarts, and it was nice to have a challenge that was interesting but a bit more relaxed and not too involved.  Thanks to Jasmine and Annemarie for hosting, and don’t forget to check out the blogroll to see what everyone else was up to!

Rhubarb Bakewell Tarts

Adapted from Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict

1 recipe shortcrust pastry (see below)
about 2 cups rhubarb compote (see below)
1 recipe frangipane filling (see below)
a couple tablespoons slivered almonds

Roll out the pastry for the tarts and place in tart pans. Freeze the crust for at least fifteen minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F. Spread about a tablespoon of rhubarb compote on the bottom of each tart. Top with the frangipane so that the pans are about 2/3 full or a little more. Spread to the edges of the tart so it seals over the rhubarb.

Bake for about fifteen minutes. When the crust is starting to puff and barely golden, pull out and top each tart with a few slivered almonds. Bake another five minutes, until the filling is lightly browned.

Let cool a few minutes before removing from the pans. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Shortcrust Pastry

1 c flour
2 T sugar
1/4 t salt
1/2 stick (4 T) butter, cold
1 egg yolk
1/4 t almond extract
1-2 T cold water

Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Beat the egg yolk and almond extract. Mix into the flour and butter. Add the water a little at a time just until the dough comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.

Lavender Lemon Rhubarb Compote

This ends up with about 3 cups of compote, more than is needed to fill the tarts.  Leftovers are great on pancakes, ice cream, by the spoonful, etc.

4 stalks rhubarb, cut in 1/2″ pieces (about 4 cups)
1 T Meyer lemon zest
1/4 c Meyer lemon juice
3 stalks of fresh lavender

Mix the rhubarb, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Tie the lavender stalks together and place in the pan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb starts to break down and release its liquid. Remove the cover and continue to simmer for 15 minutes or so, until it’s thickened up and the rhubarb has broken down.

Frangipane Filling

6 T (3/4 stick) butter, softened
3 oz. powdered sugar
2 eggs
1/4 t almond extract
3 oz ground almonds
1 T flour

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs and almond extract.  (The filling will look “curdled”, but that’s as it should be.)  Stir in the almonds and flour until mixed well.

You might also like:

• Rhubarb Meyer Lemon Scones
•  Ginger Rhubarb Tarts
• Rhubarb Apricot Galette
• Jammin’ Chocolate Tarts

Tags: Daring Bakers, Dessert, rhubarb, tart

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Daring Bakers, Dessert, 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.