Easy Rhubarb Tart Recipe

This Easy Rhubarb Tart recipe creates a really delicious dessert from simple ingredients. Make your own melt in the mouth shortcrust pastry or use ready-made all-butter pastry for an even quicker fix.  Fill the tart with a simple mixture of rhubarb, sugar, and cornflour and pop it in the oven.  

What is rhubarb? 

Rhubarb is a hardy perennial plant with pink, red or pale green stems that are most often used in desserts like crumbles and pies.

It has a tart flavour and is too sharp to eat raw, but combined with sugar and other ingredients it has a delicious tangy taste. 

How do you grow rhubarb? 

Rhubarb is grown from a crown.  This is a thick rhizome which is planted just below the surface of the soil.

Rhubarb plants like lots of moisture and you need to mulch the plant to keep it from getting too dry. 

When is rhubarb in season? 

The best rhubarb is available in Spring.  The earliest rhubarb you can buy is forced, this means it has been grown in the dark. Forced rhubarb has pale pink stems and is tender and sweet.  

Rhubarb grows throughout the summer but as the season progresses the stems become tougher.

My garden rhubarb

I have several well-established crowns of rhubarb in my garden. They have been in the garden for at least 50 years and pop up every year providing lots of delicious rhubarb stalks. 

How to make Easy Rhubarb Tart 

Homemade shortcrust pastry is quite easy to make, especially if you have a food processor.  However, if you don’t feel confident about making pastry or simply don’t have time, then buy a ready-made all-butter shortcrust pastry to make your Rhubarb Tart.

Full details and quantities are contained in the recipe card at the bottom of this page. 

Make the pastry

Make the shortcrust pastry by putting the fats, flour and ground almonds in a food processor and processing until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and salt, then add the egg yolk and pulse to bring the mixture together.

Why do you include ground almonds in the pastry?

I like to add ground almonds because they make the pastry very short, which means it will crumble when you eat it. The pastry does not taste strongly of almonds and it seems to enhance the taste of the tart. 

Knead only very lightly, then wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Make the Rhubarb Tart filling

1. Cut off the leaves and put them in the compost. Wash the rhubarb thoroughly.
2. Slice the stalks into small slices about  1/2 cm or 1/4 in thick because this will mean the rhubarb cooks evenly and quickly. 
3. Mix the sliced rhubarb with sugar and cornflour. 
4. Spoon the rhubarb mixture onto the pastry on the pie plate.  Leave 2 cm around the edge clear.

What does the Cornflour do? 

I add cornflour to all my pie fillings, it soaks up some of the juices from the fruit.  This means that the pastry does not go soggy and you also get a slightly thickened juice in your pie filling. 

Add the pastry top 

Brush the outside edge of the tart with milk. Roll out the lid of the tart slightly larger than the plate. Use the rolling pin to help you lift it onto the tart.

Crimp and Trim

Trim the edges of the pastry and crimp with your thumb and forefinger to seal the pie. Use the tip of a knife to make two holes in the middle of the tart lid to let out any steam. 

To finish the Easy Rhubarb Tart

Brush the top of the tart with milk and sprinkle with sugar.  Then bake at 180C for around 45 minutes, do check on your tart after 35 minutes as oven temperatures are not always entirely accurate.  The pastry should be golden brown. 

Serving Suggestion

Serve Easy Rhubarb Tart warm with Easy Vanilla Custard Sauce or with cold ice cream.  You can also serve it with cream or Greek yogurt.

Make more fruit tarts

I hope you enjoy making and eating this Easy Rhubarb Tart.  The same pastry can be used with many different fruits including gooseberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, apples, and cherries, so there can always be pie on your table. 

More Rhubarb Dessert Recipes from Farmersgirl Kitchen

This simple Rhubarb Bakewell Tart recipe is a variation on a classic and delicious British dessert. The tart has a sweet almond shortcrust pastry shell filled with a rhubarb compote and topped with a frangipane almond sponge. 

Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars are a delicious combination of flavours and textures.  The base is a bit like a flapjack, sweet, crisp and oaty. 

Peach and Rhubarb Upside Down Cake is really moist and the perfect dessert cake.  Eat it warm or cold as a dessert with cream, yogurt, custard or ice-cream. 

More Fruit Tart Recipes

Rhubarb & Blueberry Tarte Tatin – Fab Food 4 All

Gooseberry Galette – Tin & Thyme

Spiced Blackberry & Pear Lattice Crust Pie – Only Crumbs Remain

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