TANGY RHUBARB & APPLE TART

I love, love, love rhubarb. Unfortunately, in Borneo where I live, it doesn't exist, not even in the big supermarkets. (It is a fallacy that Borneans are primitive beings who live in trees and still headhunt They used to, but not anymore.) We also have very well stocked markets and supermarkets. Sadly though, while there is plenty of imported produce, rhubarb still hasn't reached our shores. But luckily I have friends who live in Australia, Great Britain and Canada who, when they come to visit, carefully wrap bundles of rhubarb in newspaper, and sometimes even bubblewrap, to check in with their luggage. So far, so good. Upon receipt, I carefully wash and trim the stalks, cut into bite size chunks and freeze ready to defrost for a tart such as this. I actually think I love rhubarb more than... I was going to say my husband, but that's not true. More than shoes though...

INGREDIENTS

Sweet Tart Pastry

1 1/2 cups plain/all purpose flour

6 1/2 tbsp soft icing sugar, sifted

2 1/2 tbsp almond flour

1/4 tsp fine salt

100g unsalted butter, softened and chopped

into 1 cm cubes

1 large egg

Filling:

4 or 5 stalks of trimmed, chopped rhubarb

4 apples of your choice (I used Granny Smith), peeled, cored and chopped same size as rhubarb

generous helping of white caster sugar, like two or three handfuls (rhubarb is very bitter/sour without it)

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tsp cinnamon powder

METHOD

Sweet Tart Pastry

1. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl

2. Add butter and use your fingertips to rub butter into the dry ingredients. This might take a few minutes but at the end it should resemble breadcrumbs with a few little lumps of butter still intact.

3. Add egg and mix in with rubber spatula. Then use your (clean) hands to bring together the dough.

4. Turn dough out onto clean work surface, then knead gently to bring together and shape into a smooth ball. Flatten into a thick (2cm/.8") disc,

5. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Filling

Preheat oven to 180C /350F.

Place filling ingredients into heavy saucepan.

Add 1 tbsp water.

On a low heat, simmer and keep stirring with wooden spoon until rhubarb and apple soften and plenty of sweet and sour juice forms.

Let cool.

Remove dough from fridge and roll out on lightly floured work surface.

Carefully wrap dough onto rolling pin and then unroll gently onto your *prepared tart tin.

Trim the pastry at the edges, roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and place back Ito the fridge.

Line your pastry in the tart tin with baking paper. Toss in some baking beads or dried beans.

Blind bake for approx 20 minutes or until pastry takes on a little golden colour.

Remove from oven.

Using a slotted spoon, fill the pastry case with the spiced rhubarb and apple leaving as much of the juice as you can in the saucepan.

Add 1 tbsp of corn flour to the juice in the saucepan and stir until well blended.

Pour the thickened juice over the fruit.

Remove leftover dough from the fridge and roll out.

Using a cookie cutter, cut your favourite shapes and decorate the top of the tart. (Waste not, want not...)

Bake in the oven for approx 50 minutes or until the pastry is done and the fruit is gently bubbling.

Let cool.

Remove tart from tart tin and serve with cream or ice cream.

*prepared tart tin means one with a removable bottom and sprayed with a light cooking oil spray.