One day, a friend of mine delivered the first rhubarb from her garden. Small and fragile, delicate and beautiful. I looked at them wondering what to do. Since I was cleaning kitchen shelves the day before, I remembered a jar of pistachios I thought I should use. In In the fridge was the last jar of Armands’ mother’s cherry jam (more like syrup with berries) that had disturbed me for some time because it took up space that was so precious. So, I had to bake something.

Since I love frangipane and I love pistachios, it just made perfect sense to put those together. There's a sweetness from the frangipane, tanginess from the rhubarb, and crispiness from the pastry. A friendship so perfect for summer.

Ingredients

rhubarb:
250 g peeled rhubarb
250 cherry syrup
80 ml water
3 cardamom cloves
1/3 vanilla pod
pinch of sea salt

pastry:
190 g wheat flour
80 g corn flour (not starch)
1/2 organic orange zest, finely grated
30 g golden caster sugar
180 g cold butter
90 ml cold water

frangipane:
110g unsalted butter, room temperature
60g golden caster sugar
vanilla extract
tiny bit of rose water
2 large eggs
70g ground pistachios, finely ground
40g lightly roasted almonds, finely ground
1 tbsp plain flour
1/3 tsp baking powder

Prepare

Tart shell. Prepare the tart shell. In a bowl, pour the flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Grate the butter on a course grater into the flour. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. You can also prepare the dough in a food processor with the fine blade – add all the ingredients and process on medium speed until crumbly. Then add the water and mix lightly until a smooth dough forms, but do not over-knead or the piecrust will not be crumbly, but hard. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200°. Roll out half of the dough and place in a 10 x 30 cm tart form, pressing the sides and them trimming off the unnecessary dough. Prick with a fork, line with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Take it out, lift out the paper with beans, and return to the oven for 10 more minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the rhubarb. Place everything into a pot and boil for 7-15 minutes, depending on the size and maturity of the rhubarb. Be careful to not over boil, otherwise they will look and feel mushy, and we don' t want that. Lift the rhubarb carefully out onto a plate, and boil the syrup until thick. Cool completely.

Lower the oven heat to 180°.

Make the frangipane. Place the butter, sugar, and lemon zest into a large bowl, and using an electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. At the end, add vanilla and rose water. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then mix the dry goods and stir into the butter mixture, mixing until fully combined. Spread the frangipane inside the tart shell and sprinkle with a few extra chopped pistachios (optional). Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the frangipane is lightly browned and springs back to the touch. Remove from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes and place rhubarb on top.

Recipe and pictures: Signe Meirane
Camera: Sony Alpha 7s

Rhubarb pistachio frangipane tart