Rhubarb, Custard, Cheesecake and Crumble Tart

. July, 2017
Photography by Sarah Tuck.
Rhubarb, Custard, Cheesecake and Crumble Tart

How's that for a name – basically this is a combination of some of my favourite things and the combination is a total winner!

Serves: 8-10

INGREDIENTS

Roast rhubarb:
700 grams rhubarb, washed and trimmed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3–4 tbsp caster sugar (I use 3 but if you want sweeter go for 4)

Pastry:
110 grams cold butter, chopped
1 ⅓ cups plain flour
⅓ cup icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1–2 teaspoons iced water
baking spray

Filling:
115 grams sour cream
115 grams cream cheese, at room temperature, roughly chopped
¼ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoon custard powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumble:
½ cup flour
¼ cup caster sugar
¼ cup ground almonds
50 grams butter, at room temperature, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon custard powder

METHOD

Roast Rhubarb: Heat oven to 190˚C and put rhubarb in an even layer in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle with vanilla and sugar and cook 15 minutes. Give it a bit of a stir around and set aside to cool in the juices.

Pastry: Put the cold butter in a food processor and add flour and icing sugar. Pulse to combine then add the egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of iced water. Pulse until the mixture forms big clumpy breadcrumbs and starts coming together. 

Tip out onto a clean bench and press and squash together into a long sausage. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for half an hour. Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F) and remove the pastry from the fridge.

Let it sit for 5 minutes then roll out on a lightly floured surface until it is 5cm bigger than your 34cm x 12cm removable base tart tin. Spray the tin very lightly with baking spray and use a paper towel to wipe off any excess. Use a fish slice (I actually use a thin metal pizza paddle) to slip pastry off the bench and into the tin. 

Press firmly into the base and sides and prick the base lightly with the tines of a fork. Pop in the freezer for 10 minutes. Cut a piece of baking paper 5cm bigger than the tart tin, place in the tin and fill with either baking beans or rice. 

Bake for 12 minutes, remove baking paper and weights and bake a further 10–12 minutes until lightly golden.

Filling: Bung all ingredients into a food processor and whiz until smooth. Pour the filling into the base, reduce the oven temperature to 170˚C and bake 10 minutes until the filling is just setting.

Crumble: Give the food processor a quick rinse, and wipe out with a paper towel, then whiz crumble ingredients together until forming big clumpy breadcrumbs. Layer the roast rhubarb on top of the filling then squash clumps of the crumble mix on top. Return to the oven and cook a further 15 minutes. 

To encourage the crumble to colour up, keep the tart in the middle of the oven but turn the setting to grill and cook a further 3 minutes. Serve cold, warm or hot. It's great just as it is, but if you fancy top with vanilla bean ice cream or softly whipped cream. Serves 8–10.