Rhubarb Orange Tart

Rhubarb has come into season.  Despite its bad rap as being stringy and fibrous, when cooked, rhubarb will become a perfect consistency for pie/tart filling.  I've cooked with rhubarb before and I adore it for its brightness in flavor.  Of course, it needs to be combined with lots of sugar to achieve the desired sweetness but it's forgiven because the end result is most often delicious.

Here, it's boosted with the presence of orange peels in a tart filling.  Rhubarb, sugar, and orange peels were cooked together in a saucepan to a thick-syrupy melange, its aroma permeates my kitchen like being in orange groves.  My son commented as to what I was cooking for he's eager to know what made the house smelled so good.

Since there're eggs in the filling, it tastes custardy, quite soft, but actually provides contrast to the flaky crust.  The rhubarb and orange go together happily by giving out tang and citrusy note.  Top the tart with Chantilly cream or vanilla ice cream and it will perhaps be a dessert to enjoy for Mother's Day.  I, myself, will go to a neighborhood restaurant with my family and parents to enjoy a night out.  Happy Mother's Day to you!

Rhubarb Orange Tart

Makes 8 servings



14 ounces rhubarb

Grated peel of 2 oranges

3/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

2 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 prebaked 9-inch tart crust

Vanilla ice cream or Chantilly cream



Preheat oven to 325F.

Cut the rhubarb into 1-inch pieces, discarding the leafy end.  Cook the rhubarb, orange peel, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until soft, about 10 minutes.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.

Stir in the butter and the flour.  Stir in the beaten eggs.  Spread the rhubarb filling into the prebaked tart shell.  Bake the tart until set, about 25 minutes.

Let cool completely before slicing and serving.  Serve with ice cream or Chantilly cream.  Tart is best made and served the same day.

Tart Dough

Makes 1 9-inch tart

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

5 ounces (10 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter

2 tablespoons heavy (whipping) cream

1 large egg

Put the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor.  In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and the egg.  Pulse the flour mixture until the butter is pea sized.  This will happen very quickly--be careful not to overprocess.  With the machine running, pour the cream mixture into the food processor.  Process just until the dough comes together.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Have ready a sheet of aluminum foil large enough that it comes up several inches above the shell.

Line the tart shell with aluminum foil, press lightly along the sides and let it stand up on the edges of the tart (don't bend the extra foil to the sides).  Fill with dried rice or dried beans.  Bake until the edges of the crust are golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Remove the aluminum foil and rice, lower the oven temperature to 375F, and continue to bake for about 10 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown.



Source:  adapted from A Passion for Desserts by Emily Luchetti

Hot Cross Buns

Happy Easter everyone!  It's such a beautiful Sunday morning and we had this scrumptious hot cross buns for breakfast today.  I know that traditionally these buns are served on Good Friday, but clearly I didn't plan for Easter week--hung my head shamefully :)  This year's Easter is such an easy going day for my family, in fact, I think I'm going for a hike instead of having dinner later on.

I've made hot cross buns a long time ago.  I blogged about it and posted in my old food blog; I can't recall how that recipe fares with this one.  Remember that I'm making a promise to re-post recipes from the old blog?  This is a re-post on the buns but with a new recipe which I think is as equally good.  That's why I had two for breakfast with my coffee!

Hot Cross Buns

Yields 10 buns



500 grams bread flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

75 grams unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature

50 grams granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, at room temperature

250 ml warm milk

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

175 gram dried mixed fruits--I've used a combination of raisins, currants, yellow raisins, and candied orange peel.  The amount is up to you, you could omit one or the other fruits.

1 egg, beaten



Hot Cross Paste

100 gram unbleached all-purpose flour

30 gram confectioners' sugar

80 ml milk



Dissolve yeast in a bowl with warm water.  Mix together the flour, cinnamon, clove, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.  Rub the softened butter with your fingertips and make a well in the flour.  Pour dissolved yeast along with the egg into the well.  Bring the dough together with your hands or with a spatula.  This is a quite soft and supple dough.  If it feels a little wet and sticky, don't panic, just stay with it and be persistent.  Avoid the temptation to add extra flour.

Turn the dough on to a clean surface and knead for 10 minutes.  Just as you reach the windowpane stage, add the dried mixed fruits to the dough and gently knead for a few minutes to distribute the fruits.  The goal is to distribute the fruits evenly but not the point of them being broken.  Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with damp cloth and leave to prove for about 90 minutes.  A good place to put the dough will be in a preheated oven that has been turned off.

As an alternative, a mixer with the dough hook attachment can be used if needed.  The steps will be the same as above.

Once the dough has doubled in size, turn the dough onto a clean work surface and gently pat to release the gas.  Cut the dough into 10 equal pieces, form into rolls and place on a nonstick baking pan or lined with parchment; leaving enough room to allow each bun to proof and grow without touching.  Leave to proof again for 60 to 80 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  While waiting, make the paste for the crosses by mixing together the flour and sugar in a bowl.  Add milk to form a paste that is a piping consistency, add a tablespoonful or more if needed.

Brush the buns with the beaten egg.  Spoon paste into a piping bag and pipe a cross on each bun.  Bake the buns for 25 to 28 minutes or until rich golden in color.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Note:  if you like, you can brush the buns while they are still warm with a simple sugar glaze.  It is made by combining 50 ml water with 50 gram granulated sugar, heat until sugar is dissolved and let cool.  It will add shine to the buns.



Source:  adapted from Fireside Bakery's Hot Cross Buns, the link can be found here.  Italics is mine.