Ingredients for a 28–30 cm diameter tart tin:
For the filling:
750 g rhubarb
For the shortcrust pastry:
1 lemon
80 g butter
80 g whole cane sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
3 eggs
160 g spelt flour (80%)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar baking powder
6 tablespoons milk
For the meringue mixture:
200 g fine caster sugar or whole cane icing sugar
egg whites
Lemon juice
In addition:
A little fat for greasing the tin
Method:
1. For the rhubarb topping, trim and wash the fresh rhubarb, peel the stalks and then cut them into pieces about 2 cm long.
2. For the shortcrust pastry, wash and dry the lemon, grate the zest and squeeze out the juice.
3. Cream the butter with the whole cane sugar, vanilla sugar and grated lemon zest until light and fluffy.
4. Separate the eggs, keeping the egg whites chilled until needed.
5. Gradually add the egg yolks to the sugar mixture.
6. Mix the spelt flour with the cream of tartar baking powder. Add this mixture, along with the milk, to the egg and sugar mixture and stir until you have a smooth dough.
7. Grease a 28 or 30 cm springform tin.
8. Pour the prepared shortcrust pastry into the greased springform tin and arrange the rhubarb pieces on top.
9. Place the tart on the lowest shelf of the oven at 180°C and bake for about 45 minutes.
10. For the meringue topping, whisk the egg whites until semi-stiff, then gradually fold in the semolina or whole cane icing sugar. Finally, add a few drops of lemon juice.
11. Pipe the stiff mixture onto the slightly cooled tart and spread it evenly.
12. Return to the centre of the oven until the meringue mixture is lightly golden brown.
13. Remove from the oven, leave in the tin for about 10 minutes, then turn the cake out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Product description:
Rhubarb is mainly used in cooking as a fruit and is popular in compotes, cakes and tarts. However, rhubarb is actually a stem vegetable. As a garden crop, rhubarb is very popular because it is straightforward to grow and the plant is low-maintenance. The only thing to bear in mind is that rhubarb requires a lot of space. When harvesting, the stalks should always be twisted out rather than cut with a knife. The tart stalks can be harvested until St John’s Day on 24 June. After that, rhubarb produces increasing amounts of oxalic acid, which can cause kidney damage in high doses.
