Rhubarb Tarts & Ratios

This all started out as experimentation, from my need to do something different with rhubarb every year! Rhubarb crisp and compote have been classic favorites in our house. I kinda did that again, starting with a rhubarb strawberry compote, then put one of my new books, Ratio by Ruhlman to good use. With his ratio, I mixed and improvised as usual and we ended up with a few too many pastries and tarts.


Ruhlman writes that pie, pastry, or tart dough is as easy as having the right ratio of flour:fat:water. Well, it was and it wasn't. You really have to be careful with the water, or the dough becomes tough to work with. Experience from making dough for rotis came in handy here. I found some first-of-the-season rhubarb a few weeks ago, and out came result #1.

Tart #1: 3-2-1 tart with rhubarb-berry compote filing and white chocolate. Ruhlman's Tart Ratio for simple crust. I used all purpose flour.

The next time we were at our market, I was compelled to buy more rhubarb. Not that I was itching to eat it this time, but it was something unfinished, I had to try another tart. The farmer was also closing his stand and wanted to get rid of the rest of his rhubarb. I took it all! and walked home with long stems sticking out of my tote bag as I wondered how I would improve the tart in taste & look.

Tart #2: Wholewheat and rye crust with a rhubarb and spicy nut filling. I improvised the 3-2-1 ratio from tart #1, to use half rye and half wholewheat flour, and added a bit of brown sugar to sweeten it up, so the pastry result is unique.

My filling included ground pistachios, almonds, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and ginger. For the filling, I found a recipe to inspire me on one of my all time favorite blogs, La Tartine Gourmande. I did not quite follow everything there, but I used dry ginger and cinnamon in the nut crumble and skipped the vanilla. The results were beautiful. Bea doesn't mess around when it comes to presentation and I am always inspired by her photos.

Tart #3: Aussie Bakery puff pastry with a white chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and rhubarb filling. For this, I used my trusty, local Aussie Bakery puff pastry. I sprinkled the rhubarb in sugar like the previous tart, and I let the strawberries sit in vanilla extract. I lined the puff pastry with white chocolate, let it melt for a few minutes, and lined up the rhubarb and strawberries to cover the chocolate, before baking. I am especially proud of this combination because it tastes delicious!

In Seattle, the best rhubarb pastry I've had this season has been at Honoré Artisan Bakery, one of my favorite local bakeries. Their rhubarb tarts (below) have a vanilla custard filling and amazing-looking rhubarb tops their pastries. Now, if I can only get them to teach me their tricks!