For years I read British cookbooks that casually mentioned “forced rhubarb” in winter desserts—tarts, cakes, pavlovas—and wondered what it was. Authors like Nigella Lawson rave about the rosy, early-season stalks, and I longed to try them. For several winters I searched grocery stores and markets in New York City and Washington, D.C., with no success. One year rhubarb didn’t appear in my area until late April.
This January, while grabbing groceries at a Whole Foods in New York, I finally spotted it: bright, pink rhubarb in the middle of winter. I nearly bought the whole display, tempted to carry it home on the train, but I told myself if New York had it, so would my stores back in D.C. On returning home, I visited several Whole Foods locations and came up empty-handed—until a trip to my neighborhood Harris Teeter, where there it was again: gorgeous fuchsia stalks. I bought a pound on the spot.
I originally planned a rhubarb panna cotta tart decorated with dozens of delicate rhubarb roses—a tidy pink canvas to show them off. Once I started shaping the roses, though, I found the forced rhubarb stalks were quite thin and the roses unusually fiddly. I switched to rhubarb ribbons instead, and I loved the result more than I expected. The ribbons give the tart a simple, elegant look and make the pink color shine.
The rhubarb flavor in this tart is definite yet subtle—delicate and lightly tart inside a creamy panna cotta set in a sweet shortcrust shell. If you prefer a more pronounced rhubarb taste and deeper pink color, increase the amount of rhubarb in the filling. As written, the tart is pleasantly balanced and not overly sweet.
Rhubarb Panna Cotta Tart
The filling for this pretty pink tart is adapted from a blackberry panna cotta recipe. The tart shell follows a sweet shortcrust pastry from the cookbook Soulful Baker by Julie Jones.
Ingredients
Tart Shell
- 230 g all-purpose flour
- 125 g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- 50 g powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp whole milk
To glaze the tart shell
- 1 egg yolk
- a couple of drops boiling water
Rhubarb Panna Cotta Filling
- 2 cups chopped rhubarb
- 2 tsp water
- 1/3 cup / 67 g granulated sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 3/4 tsp powdered gelatin
- 3.5 tbsp cold water
To decorate
- rhubarb ribbons or rhubarb roses (see notes)
Instructions
Make the tart shell
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Place the flour and diced, chilled butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
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Add the powdered sugar and mix gently just to combine.
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Add the egg yolk and milk, increase the speed to medium-low, and mix until the dough begins to come together.
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Gather the dough, wrap it in plastic, form a ball, then flatten into a disk about 1/2 inch thick. Chill for at least one hour.
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Roll the chilled dough between two sheets of parchment to about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer, parchment side up, to a 9-inch fluted tart pan. Remove the top parchment and press the dough into the pan, leaving about 1/2 inch overhang. Reserve extra dough for patching.
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Chill the pan for 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 400°F.
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Prick the tart bottom with a fork at 1-inch intervals. Line with crumpled parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes; remove weights and parchment and bake 5 more minutes until the dough loses its raw appearance.
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Patch any holes with reserved dough. Mix the remaining egg yolk with a few drops of boiling water and brush the inside of the shell. Return to the oven for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, then trim the overhang and brush away crumbs.
Make the panna cotta filling
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In a saucepan combine the chopped rhubarb, sugar, and a couple of teaspoons of water. Simmer over low to medium-low heat until the rhubarb has mostly broken down. Let cool for 10–15 minutes.
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Add the heavy cream to the rhubarb mixture and heat until just steaming (about 160–170°F). Remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes to extract flavor and color.
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Toward the end of the steeping time, sprinkle the powdered gelatin over the cold water in a spouted container and let it soften.
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Reheat the rhubarb-cream until steaming and stir in the vanilla bean paste. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into the container with the softened gelatin, pressing to extract all the pink liquid. Whisk gently to dissolve the gelatin.
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Place the cooled tart shell on a low refrigerator shelf. Pour the panna cotta filling into the shell and refrigerate until fully set, preferably overnight or at least four hours.
Decorate the tart
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When the filling is fully set, top the tart with rhubarb ribbons or rhubarb roses as desired.
Recipe Notes
Instructions for making rhubarb roses and ribbons are commonly available in pastry resources and tutorials if you want to try either decoration.
If your filling develops small bubbles on the surface, try to avoid whisking air into the mixture when combining the strained rhubarb-cream with the softened gelatin. After pouring the filling into the shell, pop any stray bubbles with a toothpick.
The rhubarb taste in this tart is noticeable but gentle. For a stronger flavor and deeper pink hue, increase the amount of rhubarb used in the filling.
