rhubarb frangipane tart (bakewell tart)

Rhubarb frangipane tart, or rhubarb bakewell tart as it is also known, is a delicious sweet pastry tart filled with rhubarb and sweet almond. This delicious tart will keep you coming back for another slice.

Rhubarb frangipane tart is a favourite afternoon tea treat. Soft frangipane encased in a crisp short pastry case, served with your favourite beverage. For me it’s a cup of tea on fresh Spring afternoon, ideally sat in my garden.

When paired with sweet almond, the sharp rhubarb works beautifully, a delicious combination of flavours. This rhubarb bakewell tart really does make the best of the tender pink stems of new season rhubarb.

What is frangipane?

Frangipane is a sweet almond flavoured custard like pastry filling. It is made using butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds and some almond extract to heighten the almond flavour.

Not to be confused with marzipan which is a sweet almond paste. Most often used like a fondant and rolled out to cover fruit cakes, or to form a central filling in German stollen.

Rhubarb Frangipane Tart – recipe steps:

How to make shortcrust pastry:

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• In a food processor, add the flour, salt and cold butter in cubes. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the whisked egg and turn the food processor on low to medium until the mixture comes together to form a ball of dough. NOTE: if its a bit dry add 1tsp of water at a time until the dough comes together.
• Remove the dough and shape it into a ball. Cover with some clingfilm and pop into the fridge to rest for 15 minutes.

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• Now look out all your ingredients.
• Place the rhubarb stalks into a roasting dish and pop into the oven at 170CFan/190C for 5 minutes to allow it to soften a little. Remove from the oven and drain away any juices.
• NOTE: younger tender stems will require less time than older, thicker stems.

How to line a pastry case:

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• Remove the ball of pastry from the fridge, place on a well floured worktop and roll it out to a size large enough to cover the baking tin.
• Now roll the pastry over the rolling pin, this allows you to use the rolling pin to help you lift the pastry without tearing it.

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• Gently place the pastry over the baking tin and push gently to fill the tin, leaving a good 2-3cm (1″) of pastry around the edge of the tin. Gently patch up any tares with leftover pastry.
• Using a fork pierce the base of the pastry case a few times all over and pop the pastry case back into the fridge to chill.

How to make frangipane:

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• Start by placing the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs and a spoonful of ground almonds and beat together.

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• Add the remaining grounds almonds and almond extract and gently mix until everything is full incorporated.

Filling the Rhubarb Frangipane Tart:

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• Remove the pastry case from the fridge and spoon over the rhubarb jam.
• Next spoon over the frangipane and gently spread it out over the tart tin. Don’t have it coming up too high or it will spill over. Allow a little space for the batter to rise.

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• Trim away any excess pastry around the edge of the baking tin.
• Gently lay the baked rhubarb over the top of the frangipane in a pattern of your choice.

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• Scatter over the flaked almonds and place in the oven at 170CFan/190C for 35-45 minutes until the filling is baked.
• Remove from the oven and place the tray on a wire baking rack and allow to cool, before removing from the tin and slicing.

Ingredient substitutions and variations:

• Shortcrust pastry is really simple to make. However, if time is short you can substitute with ready made shortcrust pastry instead.
• New season rhubarb has lovely pink tender stems. Young rhubarb like this will produce very little juice compared with older thicker stalks from later in the growing season. Younger stalks are also a lot more tender than thicker stalks that have been growing longer so you may need to bake thicker stems of rhubarb a little longer.
• Rhubarb jam is the easiest way to add extra rhubarb flavour into this simple rhubarb frangipane tart. However, if you don’t have any jam, simply poach some fresh rhubarb in a little sugar, taking care to drain off any excess liquid as you do not want a soggy pastry bottom (see hints and tips below).
• Almond flour adds texture to the frangipane. with almond extract and flakes almonds really adding to the overall flavour of almond in the finished tart.

Can I made this Rhubarb Frangipane Tart ahead of time?

This rhubarb frangipane tart is a great make ahead bake. Once baked, allow the tart to cool completely before removing from the baking tin. The tart can then be placed into an airtight container with a lid.

• Fridge: bake the rhubarb bakewell tart 2 days ahead of when you want to serve it and keep in a covered container in the fridge. Remove it from the fridge 30 minutes before you are ready to serve and cut into slices.
• Freezer: once cool this tart can be popped into a container for the freezer, it is best kept whole. Or you could eat half and freeze the second half for a later date. Once frozen this rhubarb bakewell tart will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Useful hints and tips:

1. Serve with cream or custard for a delicious dessert.
2. If using a layer of jam you will not need to blind bake this tart, as the jam helps prevent a soggy pastry.  However, if you do not have rhubarb jam and use a fresh rhubarb compote on the bottom instead you will need to blind bake the pastry first for 15 minutes to prevent the bottom going soggy. Fresh rhubarb compote contains more water than a spread of rhubarb jam
3. Equipment: we have used a 30cm x 20cm x 3cm oblong fluted pastry tin with a removable bottom. The loose bottom allows you to remove the tart easily from the case. However, you can also use a similar sized circular tin if that is what you have available.
4. If you follow a gluten free diet this is a great tart to make as frangipane is made with ground almonds rather than flour. Just ensure that you replace the shortcrust pastry in this recipe with a suitable gluten free alternative. You can also buy sheets of ready made gluten free shortcrust pastry in the refrigerator section of the supermarket.

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Additional recipe suggestions:

If you love rhubarb as much as I do then try some of our other great rhubarb recipes:

• Rhubarb & Custard Layered Dessert
• Easy Rhubarb Crumble
• Rhubarb & Stem Ginger Clafoutis
• Rhubarb Sorbet

Or check our our 5 Best Rhubarb Recipes post.

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