STRAWBERRY, RHUBARB & ALMOND TART

WITH

ROSEMARY ICE CREAM

 

Serves 4

Preparation Time: One hour plus

Cooking Time:  One and a half hours

 

This is a GUEST RECIPE which I found in a recent issue of Country Life.   We have the most amazing amount of rhubarb growing in our garden and we have been experimenting with soups, puddings, etc and when I saw this recipe, I simply had to give it a go.  

I discovered that it really is best to make the ice cream a day or so in advance.

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Ingredients

 

For the Ice Cream

280ml double cream
250ml full-fat milk
175g sugar (I use Golden Caster Sugar. which gives it a beautiful deep cream colour)
1 vanilla pod
3 egg yolks
2 sprigs rosemary

 

 

For the Pastry

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150g butter, a little cooler than room temperature
50g icing sugar
50g almond flour
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla-bean paste or

Vanilla Essence
250g plain flour
A pinch of salt, such as Maldon

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Alternative Pastry

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150g butter

100g almond flour

150g brown rice flour

50g buckwheat flour

1 large egg

1 tspn Vanilla Essence

A Pince of salt, such as Maldon

 

To Prepare the Fruit

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400g strawberries
400g rhubarb
50g caster sugar (be careful not

to make it too sweet, add more

if necessary, or for a healthier

option, use either honey, date

syrup or maple syrup)
50g corn flour
Pinch of salt, such as Maldon

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AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO......

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To make the ice cream

 

 

1. Heat the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla pod and rosemary in a heavy-based pan to the shivery stage, just before it boils, then allow to completely cool to steep.
    

2. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod and remove the rosemary, then reheat the mixture—again, being careful not to boil it—and whisk continuously as you pour it into a bowl with the egg yolks.
    

3. Return to the pan and stir it continually over the heat until it’s thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
    

4. Pour it into an ice-cream machine and leave it to churn, then put it in the freezer to harden completely until you’re almost ready to serve.  Personallyl, I don't have an ice-cream machine and so I put the mix into the freezer to cool rapidly and the final time, just once again, put it into the freezer very hot and when it was time to serve, I took it out for a short time to soften a little, but the texture of the ice cream was not only perfect but tasted unbelievably delicious!
    

To make the pastry for the tart,
 

1. It is recommended to try a slightly alternative method that doesn’t involve using ice-cold butter. Instead, cream the butter and sugar together, then add the almond flour, beaten egg and vanilla, before mixing again and incorporating the plain flour.
    

2. Once combined, shape the pastry into a flat disc, cover it with clingfilm and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.     The alternative pastry is harder to handle and will need to be adjusted and manipulated in the pie dish.   I found it tricky to make the strips for the lattice work, but did my best!
    

3. Preheat your oven to 180 ̊C/350 ̊F/gas mark 4 and cook the rhubarb and the sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat until the fruit has softened, then sprinkle the cornflour over the top, add the strawberries plus the pinch of salt and mix well.  A big note of warning, the rhubarb should soften over a slow heat, and you have to watch it carefully and not allow it to disintegrate into a mush.   Another way would be to poach in a roasting tin at about 170 degrees for about 45 minutes, but once again checking frequently.
    

4. Once the pastry has chilled, roll it out to the thickness of a £1 coin and use half of it to line a 10in tart dish, reserving the rest for the top.
    

5. Blind bake the pastry base for about ten minutes to prevent the pastry from being too soggy, then remove from the oven.
    

6. Pour the fruit into the dish and use the remaining pastry to create a selection of lattice and plaited shapes and patterns over the top of the tart, then brush with a beaten egg.   The pate brisee pastry is quite tricky to handle and the most challenging part was trying to maintain the strips in whole pieces!
    

7. Bake for about an hour (cover it with foil if it browns too quickly). Leave it to cool on a wire rack.
    

8. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with a dollop of rosemary ice cream on the side, decorated with a sprig of rosemary—perfect for a summer’s-day treat.   I garnished mine for a luncheon party with lavender and red and white currants picked freshly from our fruit cage.

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