Rhubarb Meringue Tartlets
MAKES
six 4 ½ inch / 11 cm tartlets
TAKES
Prep time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes
✻ ABOUT THIS RECIPE
A buttery crumble crust, thick rhubarb filling, and a toasty layer of vanilla bean meringue. These tarts are delicious, and a celebration of textures. This recipe is fairly flexible to different sizes of tartlet or mini pie pans - just aim to press the crust about ¼ inch / 6 mm thick, and fill the pans just under the top edge of the crust.
INGREDIENTS
Rhubarb Filling
680 g / 1 ½ pounds diced rhubarb
150 g / ¾ cup granulated sugar, divided
14 g / 2 tablespoons cornstarch
5 g / 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Streusel / Crumb Crust
120 g / 1 cup all purpose flour
80 g / 1 cup old fashioned oats
30 g / ¼ cup whole wheat flour
1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
113 g / ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
Vanilla Bean Meringue
106 g / 3 large egg whites
132 g / ⅔ cup granulated sugar
1 g / ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
10 g / 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
More Rhubarb!!!
METHOD
1. Make the rhubarb filling: in a medium pot, mix the rhubarb and 99 g / ½ cup of the sugar to combine. Whisk the remaining 50 g / ¼ cup sugar and the cornstarch to combine. Set aside.
2. Cook the rhubarb mixture until it breaks down and becomes like a coarse jammy consistency. Sprinkle the sugar and cornstarch mixture over the surface, and stir well to combine. Continue to cook until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
3. Pour the filling onto a baking sheet or into a casserole dish - the surface area will help it cool faster. Cool completely.
4. Make the crusts: place six 4 ½ inch / 11 cm tartlet pans onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C with an oven rack in the lower third of the oven.
5. In a medium bowl, stir the flour, oats, whole wheat flour, and salt to combine. Add the butter, and use your hands or a pastry cutter to rub the butter into the other ingredients, until the mixture forms moistened crumbs.
6. Divide the crumb mixture evenly between the six pans, and press into a thin, all over layer - it should be about ¼ inch / 6 mm thick. Spoon cooled rhubarb filling into the crusts, filling each just under the top edge of the crust.
7. Transfer the tartlets to the oven and bake until the filling puffs up and appears set on the surface, 40-45 minutes. Cool completely - then pop the cooled tartlets out of the pans. The filling will collapse as the tartlets cool.
8. Make the meringue: Heat a medium pot filled with about 2 in / 5 cm of water over medium-low heat, aiming to bring it to a gentle simmer.
9. Whisk the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large, heat safe bowl if you want to use a hand mixer). Whisk the mixture constantly to keep it in motion, and continue to heat until the mixture reads 160°F / 71°C on a thermometer.
10. When the mixture comes to temperature, transfer the bowl to an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or, get your hand mixer ready). Whip on high speed until the mixture reaches stiff peaks, and the bowl no longer feels noticeably warm to the touch. The meringue should be smooth and glossy, not clumpy or dry.
11. Transfer the meringue to a piping bag - I used a petal tip to pipe various swirls, zig-zags, and ribbon effects, creating a fairly even layer on the surface of each tart. Toast with a kitchen torch to brown. Serve immediately.
✻ HAVE YOU BAKED IT?
Tag @emcdowell on Instagram or use #happybaking. I’d love to see your bakes!
