Slightly flaky, buttery sweet pastry is filled with soft almond frangipane, rhubarb infused with orange and vanilla, raspberries and nutty almond praline. Jump to Recipe
This is your next dinner party dessert. Or your next celebratory ‘I made it through the day’ dessert. Or simply just an ‘I feel like dessert’ dessert. Actually, this tart shouldn’t just be limited to dessert – make it for morning tea, afternoon tea, breakfast…in my opinion, it is appropriate anytime, any day (and that’s all that matters, right?!).
Rhubarb is one of my favourite vegetables: almost inedible raw, a short time in the oven transforms the stringy stalks into tangy, tart yet sweet bites that go perfectly with just about anything – use it with your regular muesli or porridge, your indulgent weekend pancakes or french toast, have it on crumpets, make it into a jam, fold through a cake or muffins, make it into a fruity crumble topped with melting vanilla ice cream, have it plain with ice cream, heck, make rhubarb ice cream (or rhubarb and roasted pear ice cream à la Gelato Messina – I can vouch for it!)… the list goes on. As you can probably tell, I have been on a bit of a rhubarb kick lately and have used it in a myriad of ways, but this rhubarb and raspberry frangipane tart remains one of the best (there is also a recipe for Rhubarb Brioche French Toast with Cream Patisserie coming…but more about that in the next few weeks!).
Here, the rhubarb is baked briefly in the oven, gently infusing it with orange zest and vanilla bean for layers of flavour that shine through in the end product. The ultra-short and buttery sweet pastry is filled with soft almond frangipane, the aforementioned rhubarb and a couple of handfuls of raspberries for extra sharpness (and they just go so perfectly with rhubarb, don’t you think?). The frangipane is sturdy enough to hold up the juiciness of the rhubarb and raspberries, while the almond praline topping adds extra nutty crunchiness. It is works perfectly for dessert topped with a scoop of ice cream and extra cooking syrup from the rhubarb (don’t throw it out!), and left-overs are devoured any old time of day – it doesn’t normally last very long in our house.
The tart has been a work in progress: I have battled with the cooking time, frangipane, the pastry and the best way of filling it on and off for the past couple of years, but over the holidays decided that I was going to get it right (more on that afternoon here). It finally worked just as I wanted – and the inspiration and recipe development has come from many sources, including an adapted pastry from Little & Friday, the almond praline topping from From the Kitchen, and the rhubarb and frangipane recipe adapted from The Engine Room.
Best of all, it doesn’t require blind-baking, so you just line the tart tin with the pastry, refrigerate it for half-an-hour while you make the frangipane paste, fill the tin, top with the berries and rhubarb and pop straight in the oven. The almond praline is sprinkled over the top roughly half way through the baking time as it cooks much more quickly than the tart itself. It does make extra rhubarb, which you can serve alongside the tart with extra cooking syrup, and you are likely to end up with a bit of spare pastry – I made another mini-tart but you can do whatever you like with it!
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- juice and peel of 2 oranges
- 1/2 cup water
- 400-450 g rhubarb , washed and trimmed.
- 1 vanilla bean split lengthways or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste.
- 228 g flour (just a smidge over 1 3/4 cups)
- 2/3 cup icing sugar
- pinch of salt
- 165 g butter, refrigerator cold, , chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 egg
- 140 g unsalted butter , softened
- 160 g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
- 200 g ground almonds
- 2 eggs.
- 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds
- 1 egg white
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- icing sugar to dust
- mascarpone , whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to serve.
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Preheat the oven to 170°. Place the rhubarb in a large baking dish and top with the orange peel and vanilla bean.
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In a small bowl, mix both sugars with the orange juice and water to dissolve. Pour over the rhubarb. Cover the dish with baking paper, pressing it down to touch the rhubarb.
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Bake in the oven for 15-30 minutes or until tender but not mushy (this depends on the thickness of your rhubarb stalks so check regularly).
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Set aside to cool (make sure to save the rhubarb syrup).
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Blitz the flour, icing sugar and salt together in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until a bread-crumb like texture forms. Add the lemon, vanilla and egg and pulse 10 times. The mixture will still be pretty dry and crumbly. Turn out onto a clean surface and gather and press together. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and ideally overnight.
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Grease a 26-28cm tart tin. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured bench to about 3mm thick and line the tart tin, pressing firmly into the sides of the tin. The pastry will be hard to roll out at first but don’t worry, it will soften as you go. Think of it as an arm workout! If it rips at all or you find that one edge is too thin, it is easy to use the leftover pastry scraps to patch it back together.
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Trim the pastry to form a neat edge - I usually just roll my rolling pin over the edge to cut through the pastry. It normally leaves enough extra pastry scraps to line another mini tart tin as well, but this is totally up to you.
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Rest the lined tart tin in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 180°.
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Beat the butter and sugar until just combined (do not beat until creamy and pale, as it can cause a sunken tart by beating air into the frangipane). Add the ground almonds and eggs and mix to just combine.
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Spoon the frangipane mix into the lined tart tin and spread over evenly.
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Cut the cooled rhubarb into 2 cm lengths (saving the syrup it was cooked in). Scatter the rhubarb over the frangipani (I usually can’t fit it all in so save the remaining to serve alongside the tart). Scatter the raspberries in between the rhubarb pieces. Do not press into the frangipane.
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Bake for 20 minutes. While it is cooking, mix the egg white with the caster sugar and sliced almonds. After the first 20 minutes baking time sprinkle this (in clumps off your finger tips) over the top of the tart and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until golden.
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Cool for half an hour or so before removing from tin.
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Before serving, heat the remaining rhubarb in a small pot over a high heat for 5 minutes until reduced and thicker.
Yes, yes and yes gurl!
<3 thanks Erin!
wow the rhubard and raspberry combo is delish, and I love the pink colors, this is one gorgeous tart!
The pink is great, isn’t it?! Thanks Katalina 🙂
Such a gorgeous tart!! The rhubarb + raspberry filling sounds amazing, but with crunchy almond praline?? Even better 🙂
Aw thanks June – the almond praline is like the perfect finishing touch to it, and goes so well with all the juicy and tart fruit!
Oh my goodness! Your photography is absolutely stunning! Can’t stop pinning your pictures 😀
This tart sounds fantastic too, it looks gorgeous! Love the combination of raspberries and rhubarb!
Thanks so much Evi, lovely to hear from you! 🙂
You are so right, this is the best excuse to make dessert ever! I adore rhubarb but always make the same thing when I get my hands on it (pie!). Looks like a lovely recipe to help me branch out 😉
Thank you! I’m a bit of the opposite – I often make tarts but have never made a pie (I know, I know..) – need to give that a go this summer!
So, my mouth has been watering since I saw this on Instagram :D. Our rhubarb season has come and gone (we get it early June) which makes me super sad. I stuff it in to EVERYTHING during it’s short season. I’ll have to bookmark this for next year. It’s definitely going to have to be the first rhubarb thing I make! <33
Thanks Amanda! I know, it is so good isn’t it? Our rhubarb season is spring so from around now until November – clashing seasons is the only problem with northern vs southern hemisphere food blogs! Would love to know how it goes if you try this next year 🙂
What a gorgeous tart, Claudia! This definitely needs to be my next baked good! So neat that you don’t have to blind bake first, and the almond praline topping sounds heavenly! <3
Thank you! I know, I hate blind baking since I always get so worried about whether it is overdone or underdone – so much simpler to not have to do it altogether! Would love to know how it turns out if you give it a go x
This tart is stunning! I definitely need to make this before summer ends!
Thanks Jen! 🙂
I’ve been wanting to make a frangipane tart for a long time now. This is going on my to make list – pinned!
Frangipane tarts are the best – the almond paste just goes so perfectly with all manner of fruity toppings! Thanks Lu 🙂
Yum!!! And gorgeous photography :).
Aw thank you!
Rhubarb tart is my favourite and yours looks so beautiful. Beautiful photos and gorgeous recipes as always x
Thanks so much Ruby! Rhubarb is incredible, I agree – definitely best vegetable out! 🙂
Gorgeous! It looks like the something you would find in a high end pastry shop.
Haha I wish, but thank you Nicole!! <3
I’m so pleased to have discovered your lovely blog and this beautiful tart, Claudia! I adore rhubarb and usually have lots in the garden, so this will definitely be on the menu. <3 x
Aw thanks so much Louise, so nice to hear from you! So envious of you growing your own rhubarb – I can’t wait until I have the space to have a vegetable garden too! X
This tart is gorgeous!
Beautiful photos!
This sounds like a dream. And strangely now…. I’m craving rhubarb… I wonder why…
The addition of almond praline is genius and I reckon i would happily devour this!
Great post once again 🙂
xx
Yess rhubarb and almonds are like a match made in heaven, and that crunchy almond texture goes so well with the tart! Thank you again and hope you are having a lovely week xx
These pictures are beautiful!! And this flavor combo really does sound perfect from dessert, breakfast, tea time, or any time. Love it!
Haha thanks Maya, totally agree!
Wow this looks so scrumptious! Love it
Thanks Raymund!
What a delight! I’m having a love affair with rhubarb at the moment. Lucky it’s so plentiful!
Rhubarb is the best, isn’t it? I just love how you can use it in so many things! Thanks Cecily <3
What a gorgeous looking tart! Rhubarb isn’t used enough I think, but I’m suddenly craving it for some reason 😉
Thank you Shellie, that means a lot coming from you! I can’t say enough how much I love rhubarb – it just works in pretty much everything and that tangy sweet flavour is so distinctive! 🙂
This tart is too gorgeous. Frangipane tarts are just the most delicious desserts and I think, probably one of my favourites. The addition of rhubarb is genius. Love it!
Can you make this a day ahead?
Yes I think a day ahead would be fine – just make sure to serve it at room temperature with warmed syrup. I wouldn’t make it any more ahead than a day though! The other option is to make the components ahead (pastry up to 2 days, frangipane up to 2 days, roast rhubarb 1 day ahead) and then put it together and bake on the day.
Hope that helps!
Is 180 degrees hot enough to cook this tart? Thank you and looks amazing…
Hi Sharon! yes 180° is hot enough for it 🙂
Hi Sharon, I assume that you are asking about
180°F . Because I don’t think you can bake a cake at 180 Fahrenheit . because everything is in grams and centimeters it is probably pmeant to cook at 180 Celsius. Which would be 356 in Fahrenheit .
by the way Claudia, I am making this cake right now. I just love love the combination of rhubarb and Marzipan!!! Thank you for posting this and I’ll let you know how it worked out 😋
What’s the difference between caster and icing sugar?
Hi Karen! Caster sugar is just very fine white (granulated) sugar, whereas icing sugar is powdered sugar (like the kind you would use for dusting a cake). Hope that makes sense!
Does it matter what the temperature of the butter is?
As in, must it be cold butter or softened butter for the shortcrust pastry?
I tried making this today.
I used cold butter for the pastry. The pastry was very short, very soft, and tricky to handle, even after being in the fridge, as it warmed up quickly.
And when I’ve gone to bake the tart, butter is pooling on top, and is leaking from the tart pan.
Seems like there’s too much butter.
Don’t know, maybe I’ve done something wrong?
Hi Inka! Sorry I missed your original question – I will update the recipe now. It is meant to be cold (refrigerated) butter. I’m sorry to here the pastry was very tricky to handle – it is quite a soft pastry and is supposed to be very short, and it is best once it has been refrigerated for at least a few hours. I’ve never had the experience of it pooling when I baked the tart though – did you refrigerate the lined pastry tin before you baked it? And did you weigh out the butter and flour? The only other thing I can think of is if you used cup measures the weights might not have been quite right. Let me know! Thanks
I have had the same problem with butter pooling at the top. Followed your measurements to the letter.
Hi Melissa! Again I’m not sure why you had this issue as it isn’t something I’ve come across – I’m so sorry. I know many others who have made it successfully, so I’m not sure why – I don’t know whether it comes down to different qualities of butter in different parts of the world or what. I would suggest maybe using a different short pastry recipe that you know works for you instead. Apologies again!
Hi Claudia, in your recipe you refer both to icing and caster sugar. Are they not the same thing?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Maddie! No they’re not the same thing – caster sugar is also called fine granulated sugar (it’s like the finer version of plain white sugar), and icing sugar is also called powdered sugar/confectioner’s sugar – it’s what you’d normally use to make a frosting. Does that help?
HI Claudia, yes it totally does! Thanks for the quick reply. Can’t wait to make this tart in the weekend! 🙂
Hmm, my dough is not dry and crumbly at all (I don’t have a food processor so tried to find an alternative). It’s in the fridge.. not sure whether I should use it to spoil the rest of the tart 🙂
Hi Sofie, I’m not sure why that was – how did you end up going with it? If it seems too dry you can always add a teaspoon or two of water as you bring it together- it should be cohesive dough. Did you weigh the flour on scales?
It was delicious! Worked out fine in the end. Thank you ☺️
This looks so good! Is Frangipane good with other kinds of fruit or chocolate too?
Hi Suzanne! Yes it is great with other fruits – especially berries and stone fruit, but also poached pears or apple. I haven’t tried it with chocolate but I imagine poached pear and dark chocolate would be a great combination.
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Hi Vanessa! It is best served within 24hrs of baking but leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to a week. Hope that helps!