I've been desperate for rhubarb the past few days, since seeing a picture in April's Gourme
t for a simple rhubarb puff pastry tart. It was so beautiful, the pink of the rhubarb bright and pale. It was exactly what I needed to start dreaming spring dreams. I was thrilled to walk into a store yesterday and see this stunning rhubarb. The contrast of the hot pink and the vivid chartreuse really made my day. When I got home, I put the stalks in a vase and took pictures of them all over the house. They are apparently inspiration for art as well as baking. I probably could have forgotten about the baking altogether and just kept the rhubarb as flowers--why didn't I think of these for my wedding bouquet?But, of course, I did eventually chop the
stalks to bits. The tart was lovely, simple with the rhubarb flavor the dominant feature. The recipe (which you should be able get on Epicurious soon) calls for an orange-juice glaze. I made mine with blood orange juice because that's what was in the fridge. The taste was delicious, but the juice darkened the pale pink stalks--not a bad thing, but I was hoping to retain some of the stunning color from the original. The puff pastry was from a batch I made a few weeks ago. Easy peasy, and tart rhubarb was just what I needed for dessert after the week of excessive baking I've had.I also played around with rhubarb macarons, since I am currently on a quest to perfect them. Since macarons are so amenable to bright coloring, I would love to figure out a way to mimic the chartreuse of the leaves for the meringue and hot pink for the filling. But, since I don't want to mess up my newly learned (or learning) process of meringue-
making with the addition of another complicated step--and because I only have three food colors in the house--I opted for pale pink. Some day, there will be chartreuse baking on this blog. The rhubarb butter cream wasn't as rhubarb-y as I wanted, so this will be another project for me, as I like the idea very much. When I perfect the rhubarb buttercream to its envisioned (entasted?) creamy tartness, I will post a recipe.Happy spring, everyone! Finally.
those macarons are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI have a teeth-on-edge response to rhubarb--so I'm interested in the recipes. A blood orange glaze sounds quite heavenly.
Rhubarb in your wedding bouquet would have turned your dress red. Just saying.
good point about the dress problem. I forget those practical matters.
ReplyDeletethe recipe for the tart was pretty simple: soak slices of rhubarb in a mix of orange juice and sugar (2:1) for about ten minutes. Strain the rhubarb, reserving the liquid. Arrange the rhubarb on the puff pastry and bake. Reduce the oj mix to a syrupy consistency. Glaze the tart once it's out of the oven.
What is your response to rhubarb about? Is it the stringiness? Just asking because I have that too, and you definitely don't get that in this tart.
it's actually that rhubarb literally sets my teeth on edge! chard also does this, sometimes, which I have generally solved by a squeeze of lemon--maybe the citrus in the tart would have the same effect? It looks and sounds lovely. I am all about that glaze.
ReplyDeleteI heart rhubarb. I need some! Yum! And your rhubarb pics are sexy.
ReplyDeletethe color of the rhubarb macarons is gorgeous! have you posted the recipe for them anywhere? would love to try my hand at them! thanks.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous rhubarb pictures! I am working my way through 10 pounds of it pilfered from my mother's garden, and I happened upon your blog. I remember this tart from Gourmet, so it may be my next rhubarb project. Oh, and I'm an Ottawa blogger too! Hope to see you at the market this year.
ReplyDelete:)