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Serves: 8 - 10

Ingredients

1 x 24 cm (9½ in) sweet, pate sucre or short crust pastry case, baked blind in a loose-bottomed tin (using 110 g (4 oz) flour quantity of pastry, or bought pastry)
400 g (14 oz) rhubarb, tender pink stems
85 g (3 oz) Demerara sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 tbsp elderflower cordial (or water is fine)
3 eggs
150 ml (¼ pt) double cream
icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Rhubarb Tart

Think of a cross between rhubarb and custard and egg custard tart. Delicious tender, pink new season’s rhubarb baked gently in a barely set custardy filling, encased in crisp pastry. Surprisingly fresh and not too sweet. See ‘Getting Ahead’ notes and ‘Hints and Tips’ below.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.
2. Cut the rhubarb into 2.5 cm (1in) chunks and spread out in a shallow ovenproof dish roughly in one layer, although a few piled up bits are fine. Scatter over the Demerara sugar and elderflower cordial. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes or until just tender, which may take longer for thicker stems. Leave to cool a little. Turn the oven down to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4.
3. With a fork, beat together the eggs and cream and 100 ml (3½ fl oz) of the syrup from the rhubarb. Using a slotted spoon drain the rhubarb from the remaining syrup and arrange in the bottom of the pastry case. Pour over the egg mixture and cook for 25 - 30 minutes or until barely set and still trembling a little in the middle. You may like to scatter a little Demerara sugar over the top (when warm or cold). It’s up to you.
4. Release the tart from the tin by setting it on top of a mug and letting the outer ring fall off. Carefully slide from the tin base onto a flat serving plate with the help of a spatula or fish slice. Serve warm or cold with crème frâiche or cream and any left-over syrup handed round in a jug. A dusting of icing sugar at the last minute looks pretty.

Get ahead
• Make the pastry case up to 4 days in advance and cover or make further in advance and freeze.
• Cook the rhubarb up to 3 days in advance, cool, cover and chill until required.
• Make the whole tart up to two days in advance, cool, cover and chill.

Hints and tips
• Baking blind should avoid the soggy pastry bottom problem, however, an insurance policy is to brush the inside of the tart, after baking blind, with either whole beaten egg, yolk or white then put back into the oven until it’s dry 3 – 5 minutes.
• If made in advance, you might like to re-heat the tart a little before serving although this is entirely optional.

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