Rhubarb just made its come back on the market stalls, with its pretty pink skin, just waiting for me to bring it to my kitchen and bake a nice pie! I absolutely love rhubarb, it is a flavor of my childhood and reminds me of the happy times I spent in my grand father’s fruitful garden. With Finnish Mother’s Day coming up this week end, I thought ‘What cake would <I> love to enjoy as a mum that special day?’ The honest answer is, one I don’t bake myself, moms like to be taken care of on Mother’s Day, right? Second best answer: a Rhubarb and Strawberry tart, with a crusty biscuit base, and a light touch of mascarpone chantilly. {Recette en français à la fin de l’article}
I tried for several years in a row to grow rhubarb in my garden, ending up always with hollow stalks, to my despair! Fortunately the rhubarb I found at my local supermarket is very fresh and juicy, with a nice thin skin. I planned to use it two ways: make a compote with most of the rhubarb, and keep a few stalks to be poached and decorate my tart, together with fresh strawberries. I considered first using coconut sugar to sweeten my compote, but I preferred agave syrup which doesn’t color the rhubarb (honey with rather neutral taste would work too).
The base of my tart is a gluten free Sablé Breton, a classic shortbread from French Brittany. The name ‘sablé’ refers to their sandy texture. 
The sablé bretons get their particular flavor from salty butter. I used lactose-free butter with a pinch of sea salt. For my French readers, I mean ‘real’ butter without lactose – which we find easily here in Finland -, not a dairy free alternative. (in France ‘lactose-free’ is often synonym of ‘dairy-free’).
Big cakes with lots of cream are not my favorite, so I purposefully use mascarpone chantilly as a light touch. Of course if you love whipped cream go ahead and double the proportions in my recipe. Often the simplest pies are the best. When I want to bake something special, my pies become playful, with a contrast of flavors, textures and colors. This rhubarb and strawberry tart is just the perfect example of what I truly enjoy to bake… and eat of course!
Will you believe that it started to snow hard outside while I was baking this tart? One week ago we took our garden chairs and table out on the terrace, grilled on the barbecue and ate outside, it is mid May after all. Even the weather man on Finnish TV was laughing uncontrollably last night while announcing everybody some more snowy weather…!
I was in heaven taking my first bite of the tart, definitely Spring is here for me, no matter the weather outside!
- For the sablé breton crust:
- 2 egg yolks
- 120 g butter (lactose-free), soften
- 140 g brown organic rice flour
- 60 g almond powder
- Pinch of sea salt
- 80 g unrefined powdered sugar (this is how to make your own)
- 1 tsp (about 5g) baking powder
- For the rhubarb compote:
- 600 g rhubarb, peeled and sliced into thumb-size chunks
- 50 g agave syrup (to taste)
- Agar agar powder (optional)
- For the mascarpone chantilly:
- 50 g mascarpone
- 75 g whipping cream
- ½ cc vanilla extract
- 15 g powdered (unrefined) sugar
- 250 g fresh strawberries
- Sablé Breton:
- Whisk together the egg yolks and powdered sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the diced soft butter and whisk until you get a smooth texture. Add a pinch of sea salt.
- Add the flour with baking powder and stir with spatula, then add the almond powder and stir until the mix is well combined.
- Form the dough into a ball and leave it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven 160 degrees. Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper and place it in a baking cercle. (I use 20 cm diameter cercle, if you use a larger size, the crust will simply be thinner. Keep it at least 1 cm thick)
- Bake 20 minutes and let it cool down completely.
- Rhubarb compote: Use 100 g rhubarb chuncks to decorate the top of the tart: Boil 200 ml of water with 50 g of sugar. Take away from the heat and poach the rhubarb slices until fork tender.
- Place the rest of the rhubarb in a saucepan and cook until tender. If the rhubarb is too watery, sift it. Then mix half a teaspoon of agar agar in a tablespoon of rhubarb juice, add it to the compote and bring it to boil for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the agave syrup and let the compote cool down entirely.
- Mascarpone chantilly: In a chilled bowl, whisk slightly the mascarpone then add the cream and whisk until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Assemble the Tart: Spread the rhubarb compote on top of the crust, leaving 1,5 cm free border. Add the poach rhubarb and sliced strawberries as toppings. Place the chantilly in a piping bag with a 1 cm round tip and pipe it on the tart border, together with strawberry slices.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Pour le sablé breton :
- 2 jaunes d'oeufs
- 120 g beurre (sans lactose) ramolli
- 140 g farine de riz complet bio
- 60 g poudre d'amande
- Pincée de sel
- 80 g de sucre glace
- 1 cc (environ 5g) poudre à lever sans gluten
- Pour la compote de rhubarbe:
- 600 g rhubarbe, épluchée et coupée en morceaux
- 50 g sirop d'agave syrup (ajuster selon votre goût)
- Poudre d'agar agar (optionel)
- Pour la crème chantilly mascarpone:
- 50 g mascarpone
- 75 g crème
- ½ cc extrait de vanille
- 15 g sucre en poudre non raffiné
- 250 g fraises
- Sablé Breton: Battre les jaunes d'oeufs et le sucre glace jusqu'à ce que le mélange blanchisse. Ajouter le beurre ramolli coupé en morceaux et battre jusqu'à obtenir une texture homogène. Ajouter une pincée de sel.
- Ajouter la farine de riz complet et poudre à lever et mélanger à la spatule. Puis ajouter la poudre d'amande et mélanger le tout.
- Former une boule de pâte et laisser au réfrigérateur pendant 30 minutes.
- Préchauffer le four à 160 degrés. Etaler la pâte entre deux feuilles de papier sulfurisé et la placer dans un cercle à pâtisserie. (j'utilise un cercle de 20 cm de diamètre. Si vous utilisez un cercle plus large, la base de sablé sera plus fine. Gardez au moins 1 cm d'épaisseur).
- Cuire 20 minutes puis laisser refroidir complètement.
- Compote de rhubarbe: Utiliser environ 100 g de dés de rhubarbe pour décorer la tarte. Bouillir 200 ml d'eau avec 50 de sucre. Eteindre puis pocher la rhubarbe jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit tendre.
- Placer le reste de la rhubarbe dans une casserole et cuire jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit tendre. Si la rhubarbe rend beaucoup d'eau, passer au chinois. Puis mélanger une demi cuillère d'agar agar dans une cuillère à soupe de jus de rhubarbe et ajouter à la compote. Faire bouillir pendant 2 minutes.
- Ajouter le sirop d'agave et laisser la compote refroidir.
- Chantilly mascarpone: Dans un bol de préférence réfrigéré, battre au mixer la mascarpone pour la détendre puis ajouter la crème et battre jusqu'à ce qu'elle prenne. Ajouter le sucre glace et continuer de battre quelques minutes. Mettre au réfrigérateur jusqu'à usage.
- Assemblage : Etaler la compote de rhubarbe sur la base de sablé breton, en laissant un bord libre de 1,5 cm. Ajouter les morceaux de rhubarbe pochés ainsi que les fraises coupées en morceaux.
- Décorer de crème chantilly mascarpone à l'aide d'une douille, en alternant avec des morceaux de fraises.
- Mettre en réfrigérateur jusqu'au moment de servir.
- Bon appétit!!
I had the opportunity to taste this pie, it is a real delight thank you Vanessa.
Merci Yamina! I am so glad you liked it 🙂
Hey Vanessa!! Really delicious.. Can I have it in french?
Bonjour Helena, vous trouverez la recette en version française à la fin de l’article 🙂