In my country, rhubarb is not very commonly used for cooking or baking. When I first saw rhubarb in a grocery store, I wondered “what’s this ugly looking reddish plant that resembles celery”, and of course I had no intention to buy it. However, I learned to appreciate the vegetable (or fruit?) after trying a slice of rhubarb tart.
It is rhubarb season and let’s make the most of it! Try this easy rhubarb galette: sweet-sour rhubarb-strawberry compote, smooth cream cheese centre enclosed in a super flaky crust. It is a perfect dessert for hot summer days!
Ingredients for the crust (serves 4-5):
- 100g AP flour
- 10g sugar
- pinch of salt
- 80g cold butter
- 1-2 tbs cold milk
Combine flour, sugar, salt in a bowl, add cubed cold butter. Mix with fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In several additions, drizzle in ice milk and combine with dough until it holds together when squeezed.
Transfer dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, gather loose parts by folding the dough (do not knead). Shape dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Rhubarb strawberry compote:
- 80g rhubarb stalks
- 60g strawberries
- 15g sugar
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsb cornstarch
Trim off both ends of rhubarb. Cut rhubarb stalks into 3 cm lengths, strawberries into bite size pieces. Coat rhubarb and strawberry pieces with cornstarch, transfer to a non-stick pan. Add sugar and lemon juice, cook over medium-low heat.
Stir occasionally. Taste and adjust sugar if desired. Remove from heat once rhubarb becomes soft and sauce is reduced and becomes sticky. Let cool.
Cheese filling and crumb topping:
- To make the cream cheese filling, combine 60g cream cheese, 3 tsb sugar, 1 tsb milk powder and 1/2 tbs ground almond in a bowl, mix until smooth
- Formula for crumb topping – Flour: sugar: ground almond: butter = 1:1:1:1. Combine dry ingredients, add cubed cold butter, mix with fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (in this recipe, 5g each)
Assembling and baking:
On a lightly floured surface roll out dough into a circle about 0.2 cm thick. Transfer crust to a piece of parchment paper. Place cream cheese filling in the middle of crust, leave about 2 cm around the edge, then place rhubarb compote on top.
Fold the edges towards the centre, randomly sprinkle crumb topping. Place baking sheet into oven preheated at 180C, bake for 30-35 min until crust and crumb topping are golden. Let cool before serving.
Watch video tutorial here.
This rustic rhubarb galette is better served cold. It goes perfectly with vanilla ice cream 🙂
