The local strawberries are coming!!

End of May -beginning of June around here, the local strawberries are coming!! We also have rhubarb so why not make a rhubarb/strawberry tart? It is a staple at our house and I hope you enjoy it.

Tarte aux fraises a la rhubarbe.

Pastry (recipe follows)

Creme patissiere (recipe follows)

1lb rhubarb cut up about 4 cups

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 pints strawberries hulled

Pastry:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

6 Tbsp ground almonds

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp almond extract

1 cup all purpose flour

Beat butter in a mixer until white and fluffy. Add the ground almonds, sugar and salt. Continue beating. Stir in almond extract. Work flour into mixture with wooden spoon until dough is soft and smooth. Refrigerate wrapped in waxed paper for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 F. Roll dough between two sheets of waxed paper into 10 inch circle. Fold pastry into quarters. Ease and unfold pastry into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press pastry against the sides and bottom of the pan. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Bake 20 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Creme patissiere:

Makes 1 1/3 cup

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup milk scalded

1/8 tsp vanilla

Beat egg yolks and sugar in medium size saucepan until mixture is thick and forms ribbons. Stir flour and salt into eggs. Stir in hot scalded milk. Heat the mixture to boiling stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and whisk until cool for 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Make the pastry first then the creme patissiere.

Combine rhubarb, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Heat to boiling covered. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered until rhubarb is tender about 20 minutes. Drain and reserve the rhubarb juice. Pass rhubarb through the food mill using fine blade.

Mash 1/3 cup strawberries in a medium saucepan. Stir in reserved rhubarb juice. Heat the mixture to boiling. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until reduced to 2/3 cup. Strain and reserve.

When pastry is cooled fill it with cooled creme patissiere. Spread with pureed rhubarb. Arrange whole strawberries on top of the tart. Brush the strawberries with strawberry-rhubarb mixture for glaze.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.