Delicious Summer Strawberry Rhubarb Tart with a Sweet Crust

This Strawberry Rhubarb Tart is a favorite. My grandmother would make this recipe during the summers when rhubarb was in season. It is a wonderful sweet tart surprise! So we will be showing you how to make this tart with a sweet tart Rhubarb filling.

Tarts have their own food group in our kitchen. Try our Easy Blueberry Tart for a different flavor of tart.

Before we get into making the Strawberry Rhubarb Tart we want to share some details about Rhubarb itself.

Rhubarb is one of those foods that everyone has heard of but not many folks know what it is or what you can do with it.

Think about it when was the last time you bought Rhubarb at the Farmer’s Market or grocery store? Would you recognize it if you saw it in the grocery store? With the red stalks and the leafy tops it can get mistaken for Kale.  And a Rhubarb tart is tastier than a Kale tart.

So, if you have Rhubarb questions, we have some answers for you.

Rhubarb is a Vegetable

Rhubarb is one of those vegetables… Yes you read right…   Rhubarb is often associated with fruits, cooked with fruits yet, it is a vegetable that has been used for both culinary and medicinal purposes for hundreds of years.

Rhubarb started being added to pies, cakes and tarts in England in the 1800’s when people started cooking it with Sugar.

Rhubarb has some similarities to celery with large leafy leaves on top. Rhubarb can be eaten raw but I don’t recommend it. It can be bitter and sour. The greener the stalks, the more bitter the taste. The stalks that are red or deeper in color have more flavor with a back note of bitter and sour.

The Rhubarb season is approximately from April to June. It occasionally shows up as early as February or March but the main season is from April to June.

Rhubarb from early in the season can have more of a sour taste while Rhubarb from late in the season can have a sweeter stronger flavor.

Don’t eat the leaves. Just chop them off and use the stalks. Rhubarb leaves have oxalic acid and are toxic. Don’t leave them where pets or small children can nibble. Just get rid of the leaves.

Cooking with Rhubarb

When cooked with sugar and a squeeze of lemon it becomes a sweet tart fruity filling that can make deserts and has a flexible nature which allows it to acquire multiple flavors when seasoned with different spices.

Traditionally, Rhubarb has been paired with strawberries due to the strawberries balancing out the bitter in the Rhubarb.

Rhubarb has a high water content as you will see when you make your Rhubarb preserves or Rhubarb filling.

As Rhubarb is simmered the water comes out and the texture will soften. Adding the sugar and lemon will allow it to thicken and acquire a smooth, spreadable texture.

Adding a small amount of tapioca as a thickener will give the Rhubarb a thicker texture ideal for spreading or adding to pies and tarts as a filling.

A great Rhubarb Preserve is a yummy sweet tart compliment to swirl into yogurt, hot cereal, spread on toast, pastries and sweet breads.

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart with a Sweet Crust

For this recipe we are using a sweet crust. This is a lightly sweetened crust with the texture of a shortbread cookie giving this tart a delightful sweet tart flavor with strawberries on top. The crust can be used as a fridge cookie, lightly sweetened sugar cookie.

A sweet crust is different from our traditional Quick Pastry Crust. the Quick Pastry Crust has no sweetener and is flakier. This sweet crust is closer to a shortbread cookie and compliments tart fillings for a yummy desert!

The baking instructions are straightforward for this dough with by blending the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients together. You can use a hand blender, or counter top mixer with the right attachment for easy mixing. The Sweet Crust dough will chill nicely for up to 2 weeks.

This is a twice baked strawberry rhubarb tart so the crust is baked once without filling and then baked again with the Rhubarb filling. This way the tart crust does not get soaked with the rhubarb filling. This tart will keep well overnight or in the fridge.