All good things come to those who wait, or so the saying goes… and finally my rhubarb has come into it’s own. Following the advice of the good man Jamie Oliver, I resisted picking my rhubarb for it’s first full year in order to allow it to properly establish itself. I watched it all last Spring and also last Autumn, and finally it is looking robust and abundant, so this past weekend I decided to pluck a few stalks and make a special gluten free tart for a little backyard picnic.

Rhubarb Frangipane Tart

1 x quantity of Gluten Free Shortcrust Pastry (I used the vanilla bean gluten free shortcrust made by Careme from the Barossa Valley, and it was really delicious)
6 or 8 stalks of fresh rhubarb
1 cup almond meal
1 tablespoon white rice flour
100g butter, softened
100g sugar
1 egg
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
sprinkling of demerara sugar

Preheat your oven to 180° C. Grease a tart pan generously with butter; my pan was 35cm x 12cm, but a medium sized circular pan would also work beautifully.

Roll out the shortcrust pastry to around 4mm thick and transfer to the tart pan. Delicately push the pastry into the sides of the pan and trim off any excess. Pop the pastry into the fridge to chill for 20 mins, or the freezer for 5 if you’re in a bit of a rush!

While the pastry is chilling you can make the frangipane. Pop the soft butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on medium until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and mix again until incorporated. It will look split, and if after a few minutes of mixing it doesn’t come together, don’t worry, just add a spoonful or two of almond meal and mix again. Pop in the remaining almond meal, the rice flour and the vanilla seeds and mix until fully combined.

Spoon the frangipane into the pastry case, smoothing the top with a spatula.

Delicately cut your rhubarb stalks so they look beautiful. I used the side of the tin to measure mine because I was feeling a bit fancy, but you can definitely be more rustic if this is the look you are going for. Lay the rhubarb on top of the frangipane, and when you are happy give it all a good sprinkle with some demerara sugar.

Pop the tart into the oven and bake for around 40 mins, rotating half way through if you oven is a bit uneven. The filling should be a little golden and firm when you lightly touch it. If not, then give it an extra 5.

Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool before releasing it from the pan.

Your friends who are going gluten free will be so happy that they can eat something so pretty and delicious, and something that doesn’t feel ‘gluten free’ at all! Enjoy this beauty warm or at room temperature, with or without cream and if you cut it up quite small, it makes for a really excellent picnic.