There is nothing I want to do more than go to the farmers market first thing in the morning on the weekend. It feels as if the city wakes up with the opening of the market, and everyone there has the same curiosity and desire to explore what is local and in season. The farmers market here in Vancouver returned in April and I’ve found myself there every weekend. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the arrival of spring, rain or shine.
My main mission for April market visits has always been to find first of the season rhubarb and lilac, both of which I like to use fresh in baking as well as preserving for months further down the road. Rhubarb will always get incorporated into a frangipane tart as well as turned into a compote for the tart and for toast for the upcoming week. Lilac will adorn cakes as well as being transformed into a lilac syrup for other baking projects and to be used in drinks. I love having flavours of springs even in months to come. I also pick up a lot of greens that get incorporated into everyday meals. Asparagus is my go-to this time of year.
I’ve been making this frangipane tart for as long as I can remember. I make it for birthdays, dinner parties, or as a just-because treat because rhubarb is in season. A version of this tart appears in my cookbook, but I want to take the time to share it here as well so everyone can take advantage of rhubarb season as much as possible. Sometimes I’ll brush on a thin layer of elderflower syrup or rose syrup to the tart for a floral touch, but having it as is, is just as perfect. A buttery sablé crust serves as a base for a bright strawberry rhubarb compote and creamy frangipane filling. Think of frangipane as the inside of an almond croissant — it is creamy, nutty, and decadent. Stalks of roasted rhubarb adorn the top of the tart before it goes into the oven. As the it bakes, you will definitely smell the marriage of all the ingredients of the tart. Allow the tart to cool a bit before slicing it and I highly recommend serving the warm tart with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Strawberry Rhubarb Frangipane Tart
Ingredients
Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
- 100 g (1 cup) rhubarb, trimmed and coarsely chopped
- 145 g (1 cup) strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
- 67 g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Paté Sablée
- 126 g (9 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 40 g (1/3 cup) powdered sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 150 g (1 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Roasted Rhubarb
- 5 – 6 stalks rhubarb (8-10 inches), trimmed
- 67 g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Almond Frangipane Filling
- 125 g (1 1/4 cup) ground almonds
- 30 g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 150 g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 150 g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
- In a heavy medium saucepan add the rhubarb, strawberries, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt. Allow the mixture to cook, undisturbed, for 2 minutes. Gently stir and continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb is tender and the juices have become thick. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the compote cool as you make the tart crust.
- (This will make a bit more compote than you will need for the tart.)
Paté Sablée
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until they are creamy, about l minute.
- Add the egg yolk and mix until the ingredients are fully combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and salt and beat just until the dough comes together and there is no more visible flour, about 1 minute.
- Press the dough into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, making sure it is evenly distributed. Using a fork, prick the bottom of the tart crust to prevent the bottom from puffing up during baking. Loosely wrap the tart pan in plastic and chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- While the tart crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the tart crust for 10 to 12 minutes, until the crust is light gold in color. The crust should not be too brown, because the tart will be baked again once it has been filled with frangipane. Remove the tart crust from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not turn off the oven.
Roasted Rhubarb
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the rhubarb on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Evenly sprinkle the rhubarb with the sugar and vanilla. Roast the rhubarb for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is tender. Do not turn off the oven.
Almond Frangipane Filling
- Moke the almond frangipane filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almonds, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set the almond mixture aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the granulated sugar and butter. Beat the sugar and butter on medium speed until the mixture is creamy, about I minute. With the mixer still running, add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until they are incorporated. Mix in the vanilla. Add the almond mixture and mix until it is just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
- To assemble the tart, spread about 1/2 cup of the strawberry rhubarb compote onto the tart crust. Fill the crust with the almond frangipane filing and smooth the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Arrange the roasted rhubarb on top of the frangipane. Do not overfill tart.
- Place tart on a baking sheet and bake the tart for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top of the frangipane is golden. Let the tart cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing it.
- Dust with icing sugar before serving.
![day two: sparkly matcha neapolitan shortbread cookies ✨
the instructions might seem confusing, but if you watch the video to see how the different flavour layers are stacked, it will make much more sense! these slice and bake cookies freeze extremely well so you can make the dough now and bake them off when you want to gift them. (makes 40-44)
vanilla dough:
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g (6 tbsp) powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
matcha dough:
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g (6 tbsp) powdered sugar
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
2 tsp culinary matcha powder
1/4 tsp salt
strawberry dough
85g (1/3 cup + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, room temp
45g 6 tbsp) powdered sugar
90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg white
coarse sanding sugar
for the vanilla dough, combine butter and powdered sugar in a bowl. mix until smooth. add vanilla. add flour and salt and mix until no dry streaks remain. do the same for the matcha and strawberry doughs in separate bowls
place one portion of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll into a 5 x 9-inch rectangle that is about 1/4-inch thick. slide rolled out dough onto a baking sheet and freeze for 10 min until firm. repeat this step with the other portions of dough
remove the top piece of parchment from each slab and stack the strawberry, vanilla, and matcha dough layers. cut the slab down the middle the long way to form two 2.5 x 9-inch rectangles. with one half, carefully swap the order of the layers (example: if the first half of the dough is stacked svm, swap the second half so it’s msv. this will ensure that same flavour squares don’t stack on each other). stack the halves. press the layers gently to adhere them. return the stacked dough to the freezer for another 10min
[recipe cont’d in comments]
#christmasbaking #christmascookies #holidaybaking #holidaycookies #cookiedecorating](https://constellationinspiration.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Susan Browne says
Under the pate sable recipe, I think it is supposed to read 9 Tbsp. of butter? Not 9 tsp.?
Nyx says
DELISH. Very outside my usual bakes (cookies and tray bakes) but so so good. Definitely worth the effort of making multiple layers.
The striped design of the roasted rhubarb on top looks pretty, but texturally the big pieces didn’t break apart very well with a fork. In future I would cut them smaller and perhaps do more of a confetti effect on top with it. Just my personal preference. I served extra compote on the side because while the tart was good on it’s own, the compote was SO yummy that the tart was better with a lil extra. 😉 Will definitely be keeping this recipe and making every spring!!