Rhubarb and Ginger Frangipane

Ingredients

Filling:

200g soft butter
50g plain flour
200g icing sugar
5 whole eggs
250g ground almonds
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 sticks rhubarb cut in to 2cm chunks
100g caster sugar
200ml water
30g chopped pistachios
Apricot jam to glaze

Pastry:

500g plain flour
320g unsalted butter
120g caster sugar
1 egg & 2 yolks
1 beaten egg for brushing pastry case

eggs and flour on worktop

Method

First, make your pastry. Line a 28cm tart tin with it, and blind bake. I used this method by Hobbs House Bakery and you can read my tips on blind baking here. This makes a very soft dough that can be hard to handle in a warm kitchen, but which gives very tasty results.

Next, bring the caster sugar and water to the boil in a pan to make a syrup, then simmer the rhubarb in it for a minute until just poached. Take it off the heat and let it cool.

To make the frangipane, firstly combine the flour, icing sugar, ground almonds and ginger in a bowl.

In another bowl, whip up the butter until smooth, then stir in a spoonful of the dry ingredients, followed by an egg. Continue alternately adding the eggs and spoonfuls of the dry ingredients, whipping to avoid the mixture splitting, until all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the pastry case and smooth. Arrange the poached rhubarb in the mixture, and finish by scattering the chopped pistachios on top. Bake for 20/25 minutes at 180°, or until the filling is set.

Finish with an apricot jam glaze. You may need to warm your jam to make it liquid enough to brush.