Rhubarb and strawberry love

There was both rhubarb and strawberries left over from last night's main course and desert. Rhubarb and strawberries are a match made in heaven, but the question was how to marry them. I pondered making the usual crumble at first, but then remembered a blackberry tarte from my favourite Swedish food magazine, Allt Om Mat, that I made a few years ago. The original recipe in Swedish can be found here - do make it, it won't disappoint you. A crispy crust with a creamy almost cheesecake-y filling and then loads of plump blackberries, topped off with some almonds. Yum!

I decided to make that tarte using strawberries and rhubarb instead of blackberries. Problem was, the original recipe called for crème fraiche and quark, of which there was neither in the fridge. But there was plain yoghurt and cream cheese though, so that's what I used instead. I was a bit nervous about the outcome (as always when it comes to kitchen chemistry), but the result was great: a perfect non-soggy crust and a creamy, light and juicy filling where the rhubarb and strawberries had made sweet sweet love (there's a mental image for ya!).



Creamy rhubarb-strawberry tarte

Makes one round tart, approx. 22 cm in diameter

Crust:
3 dl flour
2 tbsp powdered sugar
125 g butter, cold
1 egg yolk
1-2 tbsp ice cold water

Filling:
3 eggs
1 dl cream cheese
1 dl plain yoghurt
1 dl sugar
80 g almond paste (if you use store bought you need to grate it first, I used home made which was very crumbly to begin with)
1,5 dl rhubarb, cut in ½ cm pieces
1,5 dl strawberries, cut in smaller pieces

Set the oven to 200°C. Mix the flour, powdered sugar and butter together quickly in a food processor. Add the water and the egg yolk, and work together into a dough. Start with one tablespoon water and add the other if the dough won't come together. Press the dough out into a springform with about 22 cm diameter.

Whisk the eggs, cream cheese, yoghurt, sugar and almond paste together into a lump-free batter. Pour it into the crust. Put the rhubarb and strawberry pieces into the batter, try sticking them in so they don't poke out too much. Bake for about 40 minutes until the filling is set. Allow to cool before serving.