Tarte à la rhubarbe et aux pêches

Rhubarb tart with peaches

This recipe marries rhubarb and peaches, an unusual but tasty combination. It uses the sweet and flaky crust known in France as pâte sablée. This may be made ahead of time and left in the fridge to chill until you are ready to prepare the fruit.

Choose a tart pan about 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) in diameter. Lacking a tart pan, any pie pan will work — even a rectangular one. Regarding the ingredients, if you cannot find raw sugar use white sugar instead. Any peach variety will be fine.

1 unbaked sweet tart shell (pâte sablée)
12 ounces (300 g.) fresh rhubarb
2 peaches
1/2 cup (100 g.) plus 2 tbsp. raw sugar, preferably cassonade or demerara
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (20 cl) crème fraîche or heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup (50 g.) white sugar

Begin by making the tart shell. Pat the dough into your tart pan as explained in the recipe and set in the fridge. Important: do not prick the crust or the juice will run underneath and make it soggy. The crust should chill for at least 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (375 F, 190 C).

Now prepare the fruit. Rinse the rhubarb, cut off the ends and slice into pieces about one inch (2.5 cm) long. Rinse the peaches, cut into quarters and cut each quarter in half horizontally. You do not need to remove the skins.

Combine the fruit in a bowl with 1/2 cup raw sugar and the cinnamon. Stir gently.

In a separate bowl, combine the cream, egg yolks and 1/4 cup white sugar. Stir well to blend.

Remove the tart shell from the fridge and spoon the fruit evenly over the bottom. Pour the cream over the fruit. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp. raw sugar.

Place in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, until the cream has set and is starting to brown. Do be careful, as ovens vary. If the crust appears to be browning too fast, turn down the heat a little.

Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. This tart may be served warm or at room temperature. Serves 8.