Author Notes: If there was one aspect of cooking that thrills and scares me at the same time, it has to be French desserts. I love everything about their names, the techniques used and the results, mostly. (Look at macarons as a case in point!). When I first came across the Tian, I was intrigued and decided to give it a go. This version combines a layer of Pate sablee (a bit like a shortbread), stabilised cream, topped with roasted and gingered rhubarb, inspired by Alain Ducasse. I have also discovered that the secret to preserving the pretty pink and the fresh, tart flavours lies in roasting! —Kitchen Butterfly
Food52 Review: The flavors in this dessert were lovely. The rhubarb-ginger combination in the jam is a definite keeper, though I would cut back on the sugar in the jam if I made it again. I needed a bit of additional liquid to get the pate sablee dough to come together, but the flavors there as well were great, and I made little decorative cookies out of all the extra! The general consensus from my tasters was that you just can’t go wrong with sugar, rhubarb, cream, and a cookie and visually these are a wonderful, fancy show stopper! – fiveandspice —The Editors
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Roasted Rhubarb Tian
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450g
roasted rhubarb (recipe below)
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1
portion stabilised cream (recipe below)
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1
portion roasted rhubarb & ginger jam (recipe below)
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4
Pate Sablee cookies (recipe below)
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Icing sugar
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Caramel sauce, to garnish
Tian layers (everything but the cream can be made a day ahead)
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The ingredients are listed in the order they should be made, for ease of assembly
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For the roasted rhubarb – 450g rhubarb (in 2cm pieces); 100g caster sugar
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For the rhubarb jam – 1/3 of the roasted rhubarb,3 tablespoons juice of roasted rhubarb, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
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For the Pate sablee- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 stick frozen butter (cut into small chunks), 2 large egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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For the stabilised cream – 200g whipping cream, 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar, 3 tablespoons cooled gelatine mixture (made using leaf or powder gelatine, according to manufacturer’s instructions), 1 tablespoon rhubarb jam
Directions
Roasted Rhubarb Tian
- Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out four 7 cm cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.
- Drain your roasted rhubarb, letting the juices strain through a sieve.
- Arrange the rhubarb pieces at the bottom of each cookie cutter, ensuring there are no gaps. This will be the top of the dessert so try to tart them up if you can.
- Top the rhubarb bases in each cookie cutter with the stabilised cream till almost full in a smooth even layer, leaving a bit of space for the cookie
- Spread the rhubarb jam on one side of each cookie and carefully place jam-side down, on to the cream. The cookie may not fit into the cookie cutter but that’s fine
- Put the tray in the freezer and let it set for 10 minutes.
- When ready to serve, gently invert the cookie rings unto a plate.and remove
- Sprinkle with some icing sugar and a drizzle of caramel sauce and serve immediately
Tian layers (everything but the cream can be made a day ahead)
- To roast rhubarb, toss chunks with sugar and place in an oven tray. Roast at 200 deg C for 12 – 15 minutes till your rhubarb is soft. Let cool down and place in a bowl, with its juices. Refrigerate till ready to use
- For the rhubarb jam, take 1/3 of the roasted rhubarb and 3 tablespoons of juice. Combine in a small pan with sugar and freshly grated ginger. Let cook for about 10 minutes and remove off the heat. Refrigerate till ready to use
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For the Pate Sablee – In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Then add the frozen pieces of butter and process till the butter is incorporated in the dough. Break up the egg yolks and add to the mixture with the vanilla extract. Process again, till the mixture just comes together. Process again till the mixture begins to look homogeneous.
Turn the mixture unto a lightly floured surface and form into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
Preheat your oven to 180 deg C and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, to ¼ inch thickness.
Using your cookie cutters, cut out dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes (or until the circles of dough are just golden). Remove and let cool down before using in the recipe
- To make the stabilised cream, put your whipping bowl and beater(s) into the deep freezer for 20 minutes before you whip the cream. Start whipping the cream on low speed, for a minute or two, then add the sugar and take speed up to medium. Whip till the beaters leave a trail in the mix and slowly add the cooled gelatine mixture. Whip until light and fluffy, then fold in 1 tablespoon of the rhubarb jam
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