I feel like it's been a millennium since I made a tart, I really missed it! So when one of my colleagues brought me a big bag of rhubarb from his garden and gave me the mission to create a recipe that he would like (he's not a big rhubarb fan), I immediately thought of a tart. I'm quite pleased because this apple-rhubarb tart was very appreciated and since it's a creation, I always take a bit more pride in it.
The techniques I learned at CAP make me more of a technical pastry chef than a creative one. So I always have a bit of difficulty letting loose with recipes. It's silly too, because it generally goes quite well when I do it. So I need to get out of my comfort zone a bit more often (well... it seems like that's the theme of the week…).
For this tart, I decided to combine rhubarb with golden apple to soften the acidic side. Depending on the taste of your compote, you may or may not need to add a little sugar. It's at everyone's discretion. Be careful though, in this recipe the sweet pastry and almond cream bring quite a bit of sugar, so I advise you to go easy on the compote to maintain the balance of acid/sweet.
The only technical difficulty of this recipe is the shortcrust pastry to line (which I detailed for you in my chocolate tart recipe and which you can find step-by-step in the ebook) but nothing really complicated. For the almond cream, 2 points to know: it's made with very soft butter and you never beat it with a whisk (otherwise you incorporate air into it which will expand during cooking and make the cream puff up). For the compote, peel the apples and rhubarb and cook gently over low heat with a little water. It's really basic!
On the other hand, I used a little trick for a really crispy tart crust. The compote being quite liquid, I needed a way to isolate it from the pastry (otherwise you end up with a completely soggy and soft pastry). For this, I coated my pastry with a thin layer of white chocolate. In the trade we call this "tempering" (it can also be done with egg white). I opted for white chocolate rather to add a sweet side to the rhubarb, but honestly you couldn't taste it at all.
If I had to self-critique this apple-rhubarb tart, I would say that it's missing a visual element. This is reflected both in the photo and on the tart itself. Without explanation, you don't know what it is. But on a perfectly executed dessert, you should recognize the main ingredient at first glance. I could have (should have even) added little pieces of rhubarb or apple slices to enlighten the viewer about what they were about to taste.
I assure you this didn't prevent my tart from disappearing in record time but it's a point to correct in the future!
