You can start this recipe the day before by making up the pastry and cooking the rhubarb. Leaving the rhubarb in the fridge overnight helps develop a lovely slightly mulled wine flavour, but bring back to room temperature before placing in the pastry. You can use a larger, shallow tart tin or even individual tartlet tins. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Sweet pastry
225 g
Plain flour
1 pinch
Salt
115 g
Butter, softened
115 g
Caster sugar
4
Egg yolks, preferably from size 6 eggs
½ tsp
Vanilla extract
1
Egg, beaten with pinch of salt for egg wash
Red wine rhubarb
500 ml
Red wine (Main)
125 g
White sugar
1 Tbsp
Honey
1 piece
Cinnamon stick, about 2.5cm long
2 whole
Allspice, or a small blade of mace
650 g
Rhubarb, use up to 700g; trimmed, stalks cut into 5cm lengths (Main)
Pastry:sift the flour with a pinch of salt on to the bench top. Make a well in the centre and place in the butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Using the fingertips of 1 hand, work only the butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract together until creamed. Using a kitchen knife, draw in the flour and knead lightly until smooth. Form pastry into a disc, wrap in paper and place in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
Red wine rhubarb:Place red wine, sugar, honey and spices in a heavy-based saucepan and place over a low heat. Cook until sugar dissolves, stirring a little with a metal spoon. Bring up to the boil and boil for 1 minute. Add rhubarb and cook until just tender and not falling apart. Keep an eye on it. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cooked rhubarb to a shallow bowl. Place syrup back over a medium heat and cook until syrupy. Remove cinnamon and allspice and leave to cool a little before pouring over the rhubarb. Leave to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate to chill.
Pastry case:On a lightly-floured benchtop, roll out the pastry thinly. Carefully lift into a 20cm x 5cm deep fluted tart tin, lining the base and sides. Lightly prick the base with a fork. Cover the pastry with crumpled baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Place in the fridge and leave to rest and firm up for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile heat the oven to 180C. Place a baking tray in the oven to heat. Remove pastry case from the fridge. Place on the baking tray in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the baking beans and paper. Brush the pastry case with a little egg wash (to help seal it against the filling). Return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes to dry out the pastry. The pastry should be a biscuit colour when cooked. Remove from the oven, leave to sit for 5-10 minutes, before carefully removing from the tart tin to a wire rack to cool.
Meringue:Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt in a large clean bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar a little at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat until meringue is shiny and holds its shape.
Assemble:Place pastry case on a serving plate. Three quarters fill pastry case with rhubarb, leaving as much juice behind as possible. Pipe or spoon meringue on top, then use a blowtorch to caramelise the meringue. Serve soon after as the rhubarb juices will run and leach into the pastry. If you have no blowtorch, place the pastry case back in the tart tin. Place rhubarb in a sieve over a bowl to remove as much juice as you can. (Place collected juices in a jug to pass around later.) Pipe or spoon the meringue on top and place in the oven (180C), for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is golden. Remove and stand until pastry cools and firms before attempting to take out of the tin.
