This Rhubarb Curd Tart is so good!

Originally Published 05/18/2021

Up until last year I never even knew you could turn rhubarb into curd! Lemon curd!? Sure! But a Rhubarb Curd Tart!?!

I’m starting to wonder if my love for rhubarb is a Midwestern thing. Like, kids in the Midwest were handed slices of rhubarb pie when kids elsewhere were getting chocolate? Or maybe it was my Great Grandma and Grandma’s old-fashioned dessert influence that led to my love for this different flavor. Whatever the case may be, I have a distinct memory of being eleven or twelve years old getting a slice of pie at the Park County Fair with my Mom. (The Park County Fair is, yearly, still one of the biggest events to happen in my small hometown! Rides, food, livestock … the occasional clogger, it’s a good time!)

Anyways, back to the pie. All the pies your heart could choose from at this pie stand and of course, I picked rhubarb! I think about that slice of pie…often. It was hot and sweet, but tart and the cinnamon and the vanilla ice cream were cold and melted into the pie filling. Lord.

I love rhubarb.

So I’m delighted to tell you that this rhubarb curd tart is also delicious and honestly easy to make!

So first things first, this Rhubarb Curd Tart needs a shortbread crust!

Start by throwing 10 tbsp of room-temperature butter into your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and get it swirling around at low speed. 

Next, add in a cup of sugar and a tsp of almond extract and continue mixing at low speed.

It’s important to keep the mixer on low speed because you are trying to incorporate as little air as possible into the butter. Whipping air into the sugar/butter will make the crust puff up while it’s baking, and can “also make the dough porous, which would allow moisture from the filling to get through,” and give your tart the infamous soggy bottom! (The Art of French Pastry)

After this, add in the almond flour and all-purpose flour and mix until just combined. Also, again, do not over-mix! The Art of French Pastry cookbook explains that over-mixing develops the gluten in the dough and this causes “rubbery dough that shrinks during baking.” This is a drier dough, but if it seems way too dry you can add up to 1 tbsp of water to get it to come together. Scoop all the dough into a ball, and place it on a piece of plastic wrap. Flatten the ball out until it forms a 1″ thick disk, and place it in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes.

After the shortbread dough has chilled,

lightly flour your countertop and rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a large circle big enough to fit over your 9″ tart pan. This dough can be crumbly and want to break apart as you’re rolling. It’s also kinda tricky to get from the counter to the pan. In hindsight, I may roll it out next time on a large piece of parchment and then transfer it by flipping the parchment over the pan and peeling the parchment off.

The good news about this dough is it’s super easy to stick back together and patch holes haha!

Two notes about the tart pan: mine is non-stick so I did not grease it…risky I know but the crust contains a lot of butter. Second, if you need a tart pan, of course, Amazon sells a million of them! Once you get it to the pan, press the dough into the corners and all around the fluted edges. Try to get it as even as possible. I didn’t have much in the way of leftover dough, it all went into the pan. After this tedious bit is accomplished, use a fork to dimple the bottom of the tart crust, (allows steam to escape while it’s baking to also mitigate the crust bubbling) and then put it back in the fridge to chill for at least an hour!

Next, the crust needs to be blind-baked!

So, after it’s done chilling for a second time, preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Get a large piece of parchment and put it inside the tart shell, covering all the sides.

If you’ve got pie weights pour those in! If you don’t, you can use dried pinto beans like me! Or even dried rice.

Fill the tart shell up to the brim with whatever you’ve got and then put it in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 15 minutes. After this, get it out of the oven, carefully, without burning yourself, remove the pinto beans and the parchment paper, and return it to the oven to bake empty for another 15 minutes! Tada! You’ve got a shortbread tart shell ready to be filled with delicious rhubarb curd!

Now, to make the rhubarb curd!

This rhubarb curd tart recipe was my way of using up a ton of rhubarb curd I had leftover from a previous recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Babka.

So, after you get the rhubarb curd made, and your shortbread crust has been blind-baked, pour the curd in the shell!

The curd doesn’t rise much, so fill the shell as full as you’d like it to be. You may have some curd leftover. That’s ok! It’s perfect for putting on toast, ice cream, etc…

Bake!

The Rhubarb Curd Tart only needs to bake for 15-18 minutes at 375 degrees. Really the tart and the curd are both mostly cooked, so you’re just meshing them and finishing the process! You’ll know it’s ready to come out when the edges of the curd are all set but the middle bit is still jiggly. Once it’s ready to come out of the oven, let it cool on a cooling rack in the tart pan until it’s barely warm, then transfer it to the fridge. It will take at least an hour for it to be cold and set up enough to decorate.

Finally,

once the Rhubarb Curd Tart is chilled, you can decorate it however you’d like! I had a lot of fun piling on all the fruit…if you couldn’t tell! I was actually surprised at how well the curd went with the other fruit too, not just the strawberries! This is the perfect Springtime dessert, cold, tasty, and beautiful!

I hope you give it a shot! Let me know how it goes!

Print Recipe

Rhubarb Curd Tart

A beautifully sweet and silky fruit tart with that classic rhubarb zing all in a shortbread crust!

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Chill Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 8 slices

Equipment

• Cutting Board & Knife
• Medium sauce pan
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Food processor / Blender
• Rubber Spatula
• Whisk
• Thermometer
• Fine Mesh Seive
• Rolling Pin
• 9″ Tart Pan

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

• 10 tbsp Salted Butter 1 1/2 sticks room-temperature
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 tsp Almond Extract
• 1/3 Cup Almond Flour
• 3 Cups All-Puroose Flour

Rhubarb Curd

• 3 Cups Fresh Rhubarb diced
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Cup Honey divided
• 5 Egg Yolks
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 3 tbsp Salted Butter

Instructions

Shortbread Crust

• In your Kitchenaid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the 10 tbsp of room-temperature butter and begin mixing at low speed. After a minute, add in the cup of sugar, egg, 1 tsp of almond extract, and mix at low speed until combined.
• Next, add the 1/3 cup of almond flour and 3 cups of all-purpose flour. Continue mixing at low speed just until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. You don’t want to over-mix!
• Take the dough out of the mixer, shape it into a flattened out disk that is about 1″ tall. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. After that time, take it back out of the fridge and on a lightly floured counter, roll the dough out into a circle big enough to fit your 9″ lightly oiled tart pan.
• Once the dough is rolled out, gently fold it back over the rolling pin and transfer it to the tart pan. After this, make sure to gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan, try and keep it as even as possible all the way around. Once this is finished, place the tart pan back in the fridge for at least 1 hour for the dough to chill.
• Once the hour chill time is almost up, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove the crust from the fridge and place a piece of parchment paper over the top of the crust covering all of it. Fill the tart with either dried rice, dry beans, or pie weights. Place the tart shell on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After this, take the tart shell out of the oven, remove the beans/rice/pie weights and parchment, then put it back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.
• After this second bake, remove the tart shell from the oven and place it on a cooling rack to be filled with the rhubarb curd.

Rhubarb Curd

• While the shortbread crust is chilling in the fridge, it’s time to make the rhubarb curd! Begin by cutting the fresh rhubarb into chunks. Place the 3 cups of rhubarb, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of honey in a medium-size saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Stir frequently.
• Once the rhubarb mixture begins to bubble, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft and mushy. Keep coming back to stir it occasionally so it doesn’t burn on the bottom.
• While the rhubarb is cooking, in a separate bowl whisk together 5 egg yolks and 1 whole egg. Also add to this bowl, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract, 1/8 tsp of nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp of salt. Set aside momentarily.
• Once the rhubarb is thoroughly mushy, remove it from the stove and pour it into either a blender or a food processor, and blend it until it’s pureed. Then transfer the puree back to the saucepan.
• Turn the stove to medium-low heat. Give the eggs a quick whisk to stir back in the spices and then pour this into the rhubarb puree. With a rubber spatula, continually stir and scrape the sides of the pan while the Rhubarb curd is cooking. Using a kitchen thermometer, cook until it reaches 168 degrees. This should take 5-10 minutes.
• After the curd reaches 168, remove it from the stovetop and stir in the 3 tbsp of salted butter until completely combined. Pour all of the Rhubarb Curd through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out any extra pith or rhubarb strings. This will make it silky smooth! Then set the curd to the side to begin cooling while you finish up the shortbread crust.

Assemble

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Fill the blind-baked shortbread pastry shell with the rhubarb curd. This curd barely rises at all while it is being baked, so fill the shell almost to the top. You may have curd leftover. Smooth out the curd with a rubber spatula. Then, place the tart on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the edges are set but the center still looks wiggly.
• Remove the Rhubarb Curd Tart from the oven and let it cool on a cooling rack until it’s barely warm and then transfer to the fridge to chill and finish setting up for at least an hour before decorating. Once it’s chilled, decorate with fresh fruit of your choosing! Serve chilled and enjoy!

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