Have you seen the incredibly things people are doing with rhubarb pies these days? They’re soooo intricate and elaborate, like Roman mosaics or the Fibonacci sequence lovingly laid out on a pastry base. I admire them but I don’t aspire to them because I’ll never have that kind of patience – but I do love a slice of rhubarb pie. This recipe for a ginger custard tart with vanilla-infused rhubarb on top is more to my skill level. And it has the perfect sweet/tart flavor twist that has you thinking about another piece before you finish the first.
P.S. The ginger is in the pastry, not the custard – this is a particularly good crust that could be used with any stone or citrus fruits. Lemon-meringue ginger tart, peach ginger pie – just use your imagination!
Ginger Custard Tart with Rhubarb
Adapted from House and Garden UK
Ingredients
- For the pastry:
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 lemon, finely grated zest
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons fresh ground ginger
- 4 ounces ginger, peeled and grated finely
- 1 cup cream
- 1 cup half and half
- 4 ounces sugar
- 10 egg yolks
- 4 large sticks of rhubarb, washed and trimmed
- 3 ounces sugar
- 1 vanilla pod, split
- 4 ounces crème fraiche for garnish
For the filling:
For the rhubarb:
Directions
- Beat butter and sugar until fluffy and add 2 egg yolks. Add lemon zest, flour, ginger and knead lightly into a dough. Roll into a ball and chill for an hour.
- Roll out the pastry on a floured board to ¼ inch thick and place in a tart ring, pushing dough into corners leaving a little pastry hanging over the top of the ring. Line tart and fill with baking weights. Bake 25 minutes at 325 degrees.
- Remove baking weights and return to oven for 5 minutes. Beat the last egg yolk and use to brush the interior of the tart.
- Steep ginger in the creams for 20 minutes. Pour mixture through a sieve and then mix with sugar and 10 egg yolks.
- Pour the mix carefully into the pastry shell and slide into oven, baking at 300 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour, until custard is set.
- Allow custard to cool completely.
- Cut rhubarb into finger lengths. Bring sugar and vanilla to a simmer in two cups of water and add rhubarb and allow to cook gently for five minutes. Let it cool in the syrup.
- When pie is at room temperature cut and serve, topping each piece with several pieces of the ginger and garnish with crème fraiche.
