strawberry and rhubarb tartlets

Most days that I wake up to the sound of rain trickling off the windowpane I just want to snuggle deeper into the cozy blankets. You know, linger a little longer before I shuffle down the hallway in my fuzzy pajamas, headed straight for the toddler-man and then the teapot.

But today was different. Today’s rain was a welcome respite from checklists and chores and I totally used “but it’s raining” as an excuse to take a break and bake.

With a steaming and frothy teacup on one side and little toddler-man in his fuzzy pajamas on the other side – we rolled and stirred and patted and chopped and baked. We took little breaks to peek out the window and watch the birds picking their breakfast out of the feeders, to trace the rain drops that streamed down the windowpanes, and of course to snuggle in our fuzzy pajamas.

We celebrated our rainy day fun by eating a few of these little tarts as soon as they came out of the oven. Crispy-crusted sweet strawberry and tangy rhubarb tartlets. They are great for any occasion, but just perfect for rainy-snuggle-in-fuzzy-pajamas-day.

strawberry and rhubarb tartlets

for the tart shell:

10 oz all-purpose flour

6 oz butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

1 pinch of salt

ice water, about 1/2 cup or so

Place the flour and salt into a food processor and blend for a few seconds. Add the butter to the flour and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Turn on the processor and slowly drizzle the ice water into the flour mixture until it just comes together. Do not over mix. Turn the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap and press the dough together with your hands, forming a disk. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic and place in the refrigerator to chill – at least two hours.

recipe from Christophe Felder via Elra

3 eggs

25 grams almond meal

100 grams sugar

150 ml heavy cream

25 grams unsalted butter, melted and then cooled to room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp all purpose flour

2 stalks rhubarb, cleaned and cut into thin slices

1 cup washed and chopped strawberries

In a large bowl, add all ingredients and whisk together until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about two hours.

to assemble the tart:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray eight 3-inch tartlet pans (or one 9-inch tart pan) with nonstick spray and set aside. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick. Carefully transfer the dough into the tart pans, press down lightly to fill the corners of the pans and trim off any excess. With a fork, pierce the bottom of the tart pans a few times to allow the steam to escape while the tart bakes.

Place the rhubarb into the tart shells and top with the strawberries. Pour the filling on top of the fruit and stir slightly with a fork to make sure the filling gets under the fruit as well as on top of the fruit.

Place the tarts onto a baking sheet (for easy transfer in and out of the oven) and bake the tarts in the middle rack of your oven for about 30 minutes (50-60 minutes for 9-inch pan) or until the tarts are nicely browned and the tart filling is set and golden brown. Let the tarts cool completely before removing them from the pans. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve with vanilla ice cream. Or both.

my notes: The pastry recipe comes from my time at cooking school. Although I don’t know who to credit for this great recipe, I do know that it’s one of my favorites. It’s so versatile that you can use it whenever you want a crust – pie, tart, hand pie, pot pie, crostata. I’ve used it so many times that I actually memorized the recipe. You know, just in case Iron Chef calls I’m ready in the dessert department.