This is such a beautiful tart to look at and eat.
Rhubarb must be one of the funnest ingredients to bake with - you can so easily lose yourself in angles and geometric shapes designing in rhubarb. Of course strips of rhubarb are equally spectacular - that pink colour !
I made this little treat in sponsorship with bakemaster.com.au - whose bakeware, and more recently their perfect crust range I’ve been playing with to create a range of yummy baked goods. This tin - with it’s little cute holes, is also very good at making the pastry lovely and crisp. A perfect firm bottom !
Do look at the tips at the bottom of the page, as well as ideas for more frangipane tart combinations.

Ingredients

Sweet shortcrust pastry (enough for two tarts)

450g plain white flour
250g unsalted cultured butter, cold
100g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 small egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pistachio and rosewater frangipane
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
150g raw caster sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
75g ground almond meal
75g shelled, ground pistachio nuts
good pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon rosewater or to taste
1 bunch of fresh organic rhubarb.
100g sugar (extra)
1/2 cup chopped, skinned pistachio nuts, extra

To Make the Tart

For the pastry:

Cut the butter into cubes of around 1 cm.
In the large bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the flour, butter, sugar, salt and vanilla at low to medium speed until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. There should be no large blobs of butter.
Beat the egg and add it to the flour mixture on low. Mix until the dough just comes together, being careful not to overbeat it.
Gently form the dough into a smooth ball on a cold kitchen bench.
Divide into two, flatten and wrap in cling film or a silicon wrap and chill for an hour or overnight.
(the second half of pastry can be frozen for up to 3 months - just thaw overnight in the fridge to use for an impromptu bake)
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius, fan forced
Roll the pastry out to approx 3-5mm thickness and line a flan or tart tin (around 22-25 cm diameter) with removable base with the pastry. Trim the edges then press them gently against the side of the tin so that a little pastry is visible beyond the edge (to allow for shrinkage)
Prick the base with a fork and chill for another half and hour.
Blind bake the pastry by lining it with a large piece of scrunched up greaseproof paper and filling with dried beans (or baking weights), then baking it for 20 minutes.
Remove the beans and bake for another 5 minutes.
Allow to cool while you make the filling.

For the frangipane:

Cream together the butter, sugar and salt until fluffy.
Beat in the eggs and rosewater until combined.
Fold in the ground nuts

Toppings and assembly:

Wash the rhubarb and remove the leaves.
Using a sharp knife, trim the rhubarb stalks into lengths, angling the ends according to a chosen geometric pattern if desired. This is a good chance to use your imagination and old geometry skills. (I actually pulled out my Mathomat for this one! )
My design uses decreasing sized sticks of rhubarb angled at 45 degrees to make a series of squares to fit into each other (like picture frames).
Spread the frangipane mixture over the base of the tart.
Top decoratively with rhubarb pieces.
Brush the rhubarb with water and sprinkle with enough sugar to lightly coat.
Sprinkle the chopped pistachio around the edges and save some to serve.
Bake the tart at 170 degrees celsius for 25-30 minutes or until just cooked and the rhubarb is tender.
Serve warm with thick cream or ice-cream.

Some Notes:

You may lose your pattern as the frangipane puffs up and envelopes the rhubarb. I have found that anchoring the rhubarb on the pastry can help prevent this as does using a little less mixture. (there is less depth to sink)

Regarding the pistachio nuts:

To skin them, boil until the outer coat is easily slipped off. Drain and peel. This will reveal a beautiful green nut underneath.

This is such an adaptable recipe. Here’s some variations to consider -

Rhubarb and strawberry with vanilla almond frangipane (leave out the pistachios and use all ground almonds in the frangipane. Mix up the fruit a little. A grind of black pepper may also not go astray.

Blood orange poached pear, with an almond/orange flower water and orange frangipane. Again using almonds and flavouring the frangipane with orange zest and flower water. The pears are first poached in blood orange juice and sugar.

Plum and cinnamon/spice with almond frangipane. Blood plums and spices such as cinnamon and anise would work well together. Try adding the spices in some sugar, sprinkled on top, or as a flavouring in the frangipane.with a little citrus.