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Rhubarb, vanilla and corn tart.

Rhubarb is either loved or hated for its sharp tartness and acidity. I personally love the tartness and could it rhubarb jam all day!

Because I know some people might not feel the same, in this dessert, I paired it with sweet vanilla whipped ganache and a corn sponge that will counteract this tartness. This dessert is enjoyed by everyone even those who are not big fans of rhubarb!

Consider corn here not as a main ingredient but more as a way to season the tart. You won’t feel it too much, its purpose here is mainly to add texture and sweetness to balance the tartness of rhubarb.

Rhubarb, vanilla and corn tart

Tips to succeed when making
this

1

For the rhubarb marmalade, If you find rhubarb too tart for your liking, you can increase the quantity of sugar for up to 200 g but don't go further than that as the recipe has been developed to get a perfect balance of sweetness between rhubarb and vanilla!

2

For the corn sponge, Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature when doing it, otherwise, it will be very different to mix together butter and eggs specifically.  Don't overbake it in the tart otherwise, it will become very dry, it should still be soft to the touch when going out of the oven.

3

For the pie dough, make sure you don't over-knead the dough when making it. Give it a proper rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours to make sure that gluten will have time to "relax". After lining it, if possible let it in the fridge for at least 1 hour this will dry it out and decrease the possibility of it shrinking down in the oven when baking it. Make sure to poke it with a fork as well!

4

Let the whipped ganache rest for 6 hours before whipping it is essential, it will give time for the cocoa butter to crystallize the cream properly and be cold enough to be whipped. When making the ganache, divide your whipping cream into two parts. One part will be heated up, while the other one will stay in the fridge. This is important because when heating up your whipping cream, the molecules that are necessary to whip it are destroyed. You need at least half of the cream of that ganache to be cold to make sure you will be able to whip it properly.

5

The less you whip your ganache, the airier and lighter it will be. On the contrary, if you want to pipe it on a tart, for example, it’s better to whip a little bit more. The more you whip your ganache, the more compact it will become and it will be easier to pipe it. Here, we want to whip it to soft peaks.

6

For the mirror glaze The temperature indicated are critical. If you don't follow them, none of the glazes will work: You REALLY need a thermometer. The glaze has to be at a temperature between 30-35C  The whipped ganache cake needs to be frozen solid before you glaze it, otherwise you encounter a disaster. After glazing, make sure you let the cake thaw in the fridge for at least 8 hours.

Final advice.

First, take your time, don’t try to rush into things, the advantage of this tart is that you can make the marmalade, the corn sponge one day and keep in fridge until use. You can make the vanilla whipped ganache on a certain day and leave in the freezer for weeks until use.

Make sure you respect all the resting times I recommend in this recipe. I know it’s tempting to take shortcuts but some creams, mousse, really need time to settle and stabilize.

After glazing, make sure you let the cake thaw in the fridge for at least 8 hours.
I know it’s a lot of information but if you respect all the steps, take your time and don’t take shortcuts it will work, I promise!
Rhubarb, vanilla and corn tart

Rhubarb, vanilla and corn tart

Servings 8

Equipment

  • 2 cm high 20 cm tart ring
  • 2 cm high 18 cm tart ring
  • saucepan

Ingredients
  

Sugar pie dough

  • 230 g butter (room temperature)
  • 40 g corn flour
  • 140 g icing sugar
  • 90 g eggs ( 2 eggs)
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 390 g AP flour

Corn sponge

  • 50 g corn flour
  • 50 g butter (room temperature)
  • 50 g eggs ( 1 egg)
  • 50 g icing sugar

Rhubarb marmelade

  • 300 g rhubarb
  • 150 g sugar

Vanilla whipped ganache

  • half vanilla bean or 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 150 g white chocolate
  • 200 g whipping cream (1)
  • 200 g whipping cream (2)

Mirror glaze

  • 6.5 g gelatin powder
  • 40 g water for gelatin
  • 65 g water (2)
  • 100 g sugar
  • 100 g glucose (or white corn syrup)
  • 65 g condensed milk
  • 100 g white chocolate
  • half tsp white food coloring

Instructions
 

Mirror glaze

  • If you use gelatin powder, bloom it with water and let it rest in the fridge for at least 20 min. Put water (2), sugar and glucose to heat until it boils to 103C (217F). This is very important to reach that temperature, you NEED a thermometer. Pour in a bowl with melted white chocolate, add gelatin then condensed milk. You can add the white food color powder of your choice at this point and a bit of vanilla bean grains. Mix with immersion blender. Put a saran wrap on it and keep in the fridge until use.

Vanilla whipped ganache

  • Heat up the whipping cream (1) to a boil with one vanilla pod. Let it infuse for 15 minutes.
    Melt your white chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave and pour in a large bowl.
    Remove the vanilla pod from your whipping cream (1) and heat it up again to a boil.
    Pour onto the melted white chocolate. Whisk until it becomes homogeneous. Add the cold whipping cream and mix with an immersion blender until it becomes homogeneous. Let it rest in the fridge for 6 hours at least. Whip to soft peaks.
    Put a saran wrap underneath a tart ring and place it on a cutting board. Fill the 18 cm large tart ring with vanilla whipped ganache. Leave in the freezer until use.

Rhubarb marmalade

  • Peel the rhubarb and cut it in small pieces. Leave the rhubarb in a bowl with sugar for 1 hour. Juice will come out of rhubarb. Collect the rhubarb juice only and cook it, on a pan, without rhubarb, on high heat until it gets bubbly or syrupy (about 2-3 minutes). Add rhubarb to its own juice and cook at low-medium heat while stirring until rhubarb completely dissolves into marmalade. Keep in the fridge until use.

Corn sponge

  • With a stand mixer or a hand mixer, whisk together the butter (room temperature) with the sugar and corn flour. When it starts to be somewhat homogeneous, add the egg, previously beaten, little by little, until it all blends in well. When perfectly mixed together, cover with saran wrap. Keep in the fridge until use.

Sugar pie dough

  • Use the flat beater with your stand mixer bowl to whisk together corn flour, butter, icing sugar and salt at low speed. Once homogeneous, add the eggs one by one. Don't worry if there are still lumps. They will disappear once we add flour. Add the flour little by little. The dough should NOT be smooth, it should still be clumpy. Remove from the bowl and finish smoothing it out by hand. The reason why we are doing this? We want to make sure that we don't over knead our dough.
    Lots of bakers have trouble with their pie dough retracting when they bake it. It's actually because gluten activates and becomes elastic. If you knead the dough for too long (even with the flat beater!), it can retract during baking.
    Cover your dough and let it rest for at least 2 hours in the fridge. You can either line the dough in a regular tart mould or line on a the 20 cm tart ring: cut out 1/3 of the dough and keep in the fridge. Spread the bigger part until you reach desired thickness (for me it's 2‑3 mm). Cut the dough according to the size of your tart ring. Place your tart ring on parchment paper before transferring the dough on tart ring.
    Spread the other part of the shortcrust dough until you get a 2‑3 mm thickness. Cut into bands as large as your ring's height (mould). Line onto your ring and the other part of the shortcrust. Make sure it is well lined, cutting the sticking parts. And very important: poke the dough with the fork everywhere. If you are unsure of the technique, Watch my video showing how to line a tart.
    Bake in the oven at 170C (340F) for 20 minutes or until light brown.
    Remove the tart ring if you have one, add corn sponge batter on the tart up to 1/3 of the height of the tart. Bake for 10 more minutes. Let your tart cool down for at least 30 minutes

Assembly

  • Add the rhubarb marmalade on the tart up to the top of it.
  • Heat up your mirror glaze to 35C (95F). Mix with immersion blender to make sure it is smooth. Remove the vanilla whipped ganache from the tart ring. Place it on a flat glass. Pour the mirror glaze directly on the frozen ganache.
    Place the whipped ganache, glazed, on top of the tart.
    Leave the tart in the fridge, and wait for at least 6 hours in the fridge to let the ganache thaw before eating it.

 

 

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