Rustic Rhubarb Tarts

Part of me has been impatiently tapping its feet waiting for spring to arrive and the rhubarb to start rolling back in to the grocery store so that I could try the beautifully rustic tarts featured on the cover of Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain. While I haven't yet been able to get the cookbook for myself, I've often found myself pulling it down off the shelf at Powell's and gazing longingly at the stunning cover. Finally, BA announced that rhubarb was back in season so I eagerly began the hunt--it took three grocery stores (and some bug-eyed looks from a few HEB employees) to find some fresh rhubarb, but boy was it worth it.

My parents fortuitously arrived on baking day and these suckers began to disappear pretty quickly once they came out of the oven. I made a few with strawberries, a few without; if you prefer the strawberry/rhubarb combo you can't really go wrong here. The lone rhubarb tarts are just as scrumptious on their own (I think I might prefer them myself), less brightly sweet and with a darker sort of zing. The crust makes the tart far more wholesome; I particularly enjoyed the crunch and sweetness of cornmeal. And, as an added bonus for impatient bakers such as myself, if your tart folding isn't perfect, well, hey--it's rustic! Says so in the title.

The recipe I used is a bit of a variation on Smitten Kitchen's adaptation of Boyce's tart. I decided to add a bit of lime zest and used vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean. For the crust I used wheat flour instead of corn flour, because corn flour was $3.89 and when the heck am I ever going to use corn flour again? And, like I said, I also added strawberries to a few of these tarts. Try a bit of each and see which you prefer.

Rustic Rhubarb Tarts (Adapted from Good to the Grain and Smitten Kitchen)
(Makes 10)
Crust:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal (Deb used fine but I rather like the crunchy bits)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces) cold salted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 egg yolks

Rhubarb Compote: 
1 1/2 pounds rhubarb stalks
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lime zest

Optional: roughly 2 1/2 cups chopped, stemmed strawberries, divided into 2 cups and 1/2 cup. If making a full rhubarb-strawberry combo batch. If you're making a few of each kind of tarts, divide the amount of strawberries appropriately.

For Crust:
Sift together dry ingredients. Use your fingertips to break apart and blend in butter evenly through the dough. The cream and egg yolks can be mixed into the butter mixture with a wooden spoon. You’ll likely want to turn the dough out onto a counter to gently knead it into one mass. Divide the mass into 10 balls of equal size. Flatten the ball slightly with your hand and then roll the ball out into a rough circle 5 inches in diameter. Once compote is ready, spoon 2-3 tablespoons in the center of each dough circle and fold the edges of dough up and around the compote. Transfer tarts to parchment-lined cookie sheet. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze for roughly 1 hour.

For Compote:
Rinse the rhubarb stalks and trim the very ends. Cut them in half lengthwise (unless they’re very slim) and then into 3/4-inch chunks. Leaving the last 1 1/2 cups aside, put 3 cups of the rhubarb into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. If using strawberries, add 2 cups of strawberries, reserving the last 1/2 cup. Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract and lime zest. Cook the rhubarb on a low temperature to allow it to release its liquid.

Once liquids begin to release, increase the temperature to medium-low. Cook the rhubarb mixture, covered, for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture is saucy. Remove the cover and increase the heat to medium, cooking an additional 15 to 17 minutes, or until the rhubarb is completely broken down and thick enough that a spoon leaves a trail at the bottom of the pan. Add remaining rhubarb chunks (and/or strawberries, if using them) to the compote. Allow compote to cool completely before spooning onto tarts.

To bake, preheat oven to 375. Bake still-cold tarts for about 35 minutes, until compote is bubbling and crust is browned. Serve warm or at room temperature. Tarts are best within two days--keep them refrigerated in an airtight container and warm before serving.

Also, personal note, super good with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!