This is a pudding I got off the Waitrose website the other day and then tinkered about with. It is basically like a very thick, moist upside-down bakewell tart, as the cooked rhubarb is piled on top of a frangipane base, which means that all the syrupy juices trickle down into the sponge. At the time I was cooking for someone who says he dislikes both almonds and “fruit in puddings”, but I went ahead anyway with the result that he came back for a second helping (voluntarily).
Since it’s so good I thought I’d put it up. The basic recipe is called Frangipane and Rhubarb Tart. The Waitrose recipe uses shop-bought shortcrust pastry, but I made my own because I think that home-made always tastes so much better. Before adding the almond mixture you brush beaten egg yolk over the pastry base and then dust it with sugar (I used muscavado) and cinammon, which adds this kind of caramel layer between the pastry and the frangipane.
You need a 27cm loose-bottomed flan tin (no less than 3cm deep).
For the pastry:
250g plain flour
50g icing sugar
125g softened unsalted butter
zest of a lemon
splash of milk
For the rhurbarb topping and frangipane mixture:
4 medium eggs
1/2 tsp ground cinammon
225g caster sugar plus as much as you need to sweeten the rhubarb
2 tbsp muscavado sugar
250g unsalted butter, softened
300g ground almonds
1tsp almond extract
Approx 900g rhubarb
strawberry jam
25g toasted flaked almonds
Make the pastry by mixing the icing sugar and lemon zest with the softened butter. Blend in a food processor with the plain flour then “cut” in enough milk to bind (as little as you can get away with). Chill for an hour or so.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C, (gas mark 6). To make the frangipane beat the 225g sugar with three eggs, softened butter, ground almonds and almond extract. Once the pastry is chilled, roll it out and line the tart tin. Prick with a fork and wash with beaten egg, then sprinkle over a layer of cinammon and muscavado sugar. Spoon the frangipane over the pastry base. It will need to cook for at least 30 minutes. I found that mine needed 45. It’s best to wait until the filling looks golden and is firm to touch.
Fresh rhubarb
While it’s baking cook the rhubarb. Trim the rhubarb and cut it into 2cm chunks. Place in a pan with 1 tbsp cold water and enough sugar as you estimate you need. (I find that the rhubarb needed a lot more sugar than the recipe called for, and probably added around 5 tablespoons). Cover and cook until the rhubarb is tender.
Finally, once the tart is cooked use a slotted spoon to pile the rhubarb on top of the frangipane and drizzle with strawberry jam pushed through a sieve to removed the pips. Decorate with toasted almonds.
Anna-Marie Julyan 