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I have been making this tart for years (decades, even), but it has never made it into a cookbook. Once you try the delicately poached rhubarb spiralled in little rosettes overtop a creamy cheesecake filling, you’ll make this springtime recipe a staple. — Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom: The Complete Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Make You a Better Baker, Anna Olson, Appetite by Random House
RHUBARB CHEESECAKE TART
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Pâte Sablée rolled to 9 inches (23 cm), baked, brushed with egg white and cooled
Poached rhubarb:
- 16 oz (450 g) fresh rhubarb stalks, leaves trimmed
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (250 mL) water
- 1 vanilla bean or 1 Tbsp 15 mL vanilla bean paste
Cheesecake filling:
- 1 pkg (8 oz/250 g) cream cheese, softened
- 6 Tbsp (90 g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp (8 g) cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 6 Tbsp (90 mL) sour cream
Glaze:
- ¼ cup (60 mL) apple jelly or apricot jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place the baked, cooled tart shell in its pan onto a baking tray.
- Poach the rhubarb. Trim the rhubarb just enough to fit into a 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) pan, trying to leave the pieces as long as possible. Place the sugar and water into a small saucepan. Scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the pot (or add the vanilla bean paste) and bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring occasionally. Pour the hot syrup over the rhubarb, cover the pan with foil (or a lid) and bake for 15 minutes. Immediately uncover the pan and let the rhubarb cool in the syrup to room temperature (1). Leave the oven on.
- Make the cheesecake filling. Using electric beaters or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, beating well and scraping the bowl after each one. Beat in the cornstarch, vanilla and lemon zest. Add the egg and mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add the egg yolk and sour cream, again beating on medium-low speed. Scrape the filling into the tart shell and spread to level it, if needed. The filling will fill the tart shell halfway.
- Bake the cheesecake filling for about 20 minutes, until it no longer jiggles when the pan is gently tapped. Cool the tart on a rack to room temperature and then chill for
Notes
Recipe notes/tips
I prefer hothouse rhubarb for this recipe because of its tenderness, intensely pink colour and thin stalks. Field rhubarb is just as tasty, but the stalks may be thicker, in which case you should slice each one lengthwise into ½-inch-wide (1.2 cm) wide pieces and add 5 minutes to the poaching time.
The poaching liquid from the rhubarb is absolutely delicious and a beautiful pink. You can use it to sweeten your iced tea or cocktails, or reduce it to a glaze to drizzle over ice cream or sweeten up fresh berries and cream. Excerpted from Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom: The Complete Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Make You a Better Baker (with 150+ Recipes) by Anna Olson. Copyright © 2023 Olson Food Concepts Inc. Photography by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
The poaching liquid from the rhubarb is absolutely delicious and a beautiful pink. You can use it to sweeten your iced tea or cocktails, or reduce it to a glaze to drizzle over ice cream or sweeten up fresh berries and cream. Excerpted from Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom: The Complete Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Make You a Better Baker (with 150+ Recipes) by Anna Olson. Copyright © 2023 Olson Food Concepts Inc. Photography by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
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