Katharine's Cookery: Mini Rhubarb Tarts

Hello everyone! I’m sorry for not posting anything on here for a while. I’ve started working a second job, so my free time is limited. Also, summer’s heat is now in full swing and my small apartment is always super warm. So, turning on the stove or oven is the last thing I want to do. But, no more excuses!

There are few shopping experiences that can compare to a local farmer’s market: outdoors with the wind in your hair and the sun shining down (or sleet coming down, whatever it happens to be!), that's how I like to buy dinner. Call me sappy if you want, but there’s something about a community coming together to buy and sell fresh food that warms my heart.

Anyways, I stopped at my local farmer’s market the other day. After weeks and weeks of rainy, dreary weather, it was one of the first sunny days we’ve had, so it was extra special. Because it’s so early in the growing season, there wasn’t much produce for sale, but there was one thing that almost every vendor had: rhubarb! I purchased a huge bunch for a shockingly low price and was ready for a fun afternoon in the kitchen.

A certain somebody was very curious!

Once back at home, I had a hard time deciding what to make with my rhubarb. Should I play it safe and make a crisp? Nah. A tart sounds fun, but I don’t have a fluted tart pan, and the crinkly edging is necessary to make a tart fun. Mini things are fun too. A mini tart without crinkly edging would be acceptable.

And that, good people of the internet, is how my mini rhubarb tarts came to be a reality. *Cue triumphant music*

The crust of these tarts is Smitten Kitchen’s great unshrinkable sweet tart shell and the filling is my own original creation. This recipe will make 12 cupcake sized tarts. Here’s the printable recipe.

Mini Rhubarb Tarts

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick of very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg

For the Filling

2 cups rhubarb

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 egg

1. Let's start on the crust. Put the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor or a plain bowl and blend them together. Take the cold butter and chop it into small chunks. Place the butter into your food processor or bowl and blend it in. If, like me, you are using a plain bowl you can use a fork and your fingers to blend the butter into the dry ingredients. You want the butter to be in oatmeal sized chunks.

2. Take your egg and it to the butter and flour mixture. Stir and knead the dough until the egg in mixed in well.

3. Grease your cupcake/mini tart pans very well. You don't want your tart to stick or break as you pull them out of the pan. Take your dough and divide it into twelve balls, one ball per tart. Press one ball into the sides of each cup to form the crust. Place you crusts into the freezer for at least a half hour.

4. Now we can work on the filling. Finely chop about two cup of rhubarb. Add it into a medium bowl along with the sugar, flour, egg and mix it all together. This is probably a good time to preheat your oven to 325 degrees. (The lower temp will help the filling cook completely without letting the crusts burn.)

5. Once you crusts have been chilled for at least 30 minutes, evenly distribute the filling into your twelve crusts. You want each crust to be about 90% full.

6. Bake your tarts at 325 degree for 30 minute or until the crusts are golden brown and the filling has firmed up a bit. Let the tarts cool and then carefully remove them from the pan.