I recently spent a day with François in his boulangerie, at La Ferme Auberge de Bunehou, and came away laden with recipes and tips, and dying to try this one out on my loved ones in June, when one of our favourites... rhubarb, comes into season ... Tarte à la rhubarbe (with a Norman twist...Calva and crème fraîche !)
The result was definitely worth waiting for.....
Pâte Brisée
250g plain flour
125g butter, at room temp. cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk
40g caster sugar
pinch of salt
50ml water
1 kilo Rhubarb, chopped
50g sugar
For the filling:
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablsp. crème fraîche
1 dessertsp. flour
80 – 100g brown sugar
Drop of Calvados
For the Pastry
Sieve flour and salt. Rub in butter until mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Stir in sugar and make a ‘well’ in the centre. Pour the egg yolk (beaten) and water in and mix in with a knife until a ball is formed....Leave to ‘rest’ in fridge for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 180°C
Line a lightly buttered quiche tin with pastry. Bake ‘blind’* for about 15 minutes.
Place chopped rhubarb on top and sprinkle with sugar.
Mix all the filling ingred. together and pour over rhubarb. Sprinkle extra sugar on top.
Bake in a hot oven until nicely set.
*Baking ‘blind’ is simply pre-baking the pastry, to avoid a soggy base!
Prick the base of the pastry with a fork. Put some baking paper on top and a few dried beans/pasta so that the pastry won’t rise...
(I always do this for quiches and tarts.)
