What better way to celebrate rhubarb season than with a delicious, creamy strawberry rhubarb tart! This recipe uses a strawberry rhubarb curd filling and is topped with a creamy vanilla bean mascarpone frosting and fresh strawberries. Our classic sweet tart crust holds it all together for a beautiful presentation.
If you’ve never baked much with rhubarb, I hope this recipe entices you to ask your neighbor for a few stalks so you can give it a try! Rhubarb is a cold-hearty tart vegetable harvested in springtime and early summer. It can be made extra delicious when you combine it with sugar or custard. It’s widely available in backyards & used a lot in baking. It can also be found in the frozen section at your local grocery store or in the fresh produce section or farmers market when in season. Smaller stalks have a slightly better flavor, so I opt for these when possible.
How to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Tart
This tart can be a little time consuming, so if you’re short on time, make the crust, juice, and optional vanilla bean mascarpone frosting the day before you make the fruit curd and assemble your tart.
This tart requires 3 steps.
- Make the tart crust. In this post, you’ll find not just the recipe, but also tips for making a perfect crust. You’ll need to prepare the dough, then fully bake the crust before filling it with the strawberry rhubarb curd mixture. To make things extra easy, you can use a store-bought tart shell, and then you’ll only need to make the curd.
- Make the strawberry rhubarb juice for the strawberry rhubarb curd.
- Make strawberry rhubarb curd for the filling. This post includes many tips on how it’s done with our lemon curd version, so be sure you read it. Once the fruit curd is ready, fill your crust with it and chill.
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling
The filling is very similar to my favorite lemon tart, swapping out the lemon juice for the strawberry rhubarb juice. I also added a little lemon zest to my strawberry rhubarb juice to enhance the flavors during that step instead of while making the curd.
Butter
The butter adds a thick, creamy texture and the long whisking when adding it makes it light and airy. You can whisk the butter by hand, or even better, use a blender. Add the butter to the strawberry rhubarb curd mixture and blend, adding a few cubes of butter at a time, until completely smooth.
More Tips
Chill the strawberry rhubarb curd tart for several hours before serving or the filling will be too runny. After enough chilling time, the fruit curd will firm up, making it easier to cut through the pie.
You can make this tart a day ahead of time. It keeps well in the fridge, covered tightly.
You could top the tart with the remaining strawberry rhubarb fruit puree mixed with powdered sugar (see recipe for details), vanilla bean mascarpone frosting, whipped cream, or strawberries if you’d like.
Read more about crust making here.
Read more about how to make any fruit curd here with my lemon curd recipe. Swap out the lemon juice for other fruit juices if desired.
Baker’s tip: While you can certainly measure your ingredients by volume (most home bakers do), for the best results, I highly suggest measuring ingredients by weight using a food scale.
More Delicious Tart Recipes To Try:
- Chocolate Tart Dough: Buttery, crispy, crumbly chocolate dough, plus a ton of tips to help you make it perfectly.
- No-Bake White Chocolate Strawberry Tart: This no-bake white chocolate strawberry tart is an easy yet impressive dessert made of a cookie crust, white chocolate mousse filling, and topped with strawberry jam for a shiny glaze.
- No-Bake Chocolate Tart: This incredibly easy, no-bake chocolate tart is made with a simple Oreo crust and rich chocolate ganache filling made with both milk and dark chocolates.
- Chocolate Banana Tart with Nutella: A rich and creamy chocolate banana tart filled with decadent Nutella ganache and fresh bananas. This no-bake dessert is a foolproof recipe that’s great to make ahead.
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Strawberry Rhubarb Tart
A classic tart made with a buttery, flaky crust and creamy, dreamy strawberry rhubarb curd filling. Topped with a creamy vanilla bean mascarpone frosting and fresh strawberries.
Ingredients
Crust
Strawberry Rhubarb Juice
- 6 oz (170g) strawberries, cut in half
- 10 oz (285g) rhubarb stalks, cut in half-inch pieces
- ½ Tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 Tablespoons water
Strawberry Rhubarb Curd Filling
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup (150 g/5.3 oz) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120 ml) fresh strawberry rhubarb juice
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream , optional
- ½ cup (1 stick/115 g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Instructions
Strawberry Rhubarb Juice
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Combine cut strawberries, rhubarb, water, and lemon zest in a 1.5 quart saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring frequently to ensure the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Once boiling, reduce to medium-low heat to continue to break down the fruit.
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Once the fruit is broken down and very soft (puree-like) remove from heat. Strain mixture through a medium mesh sieve to remove the larger fruit pulp and a second time through a fine mesh sieve to get the mixture to be purely fruit juice with no seeds. This should yield more than ½ cup of liquid to ensure you have enough for the tart.
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Remaining puree topping (optional): The strained leftovers of strawberry & rhubarb puree can be mixed with ½ cup of powdered sugar and used as a delicious topping for this tart for extra flavor or as a fruit filling in another pastry recipe.
Strawberry Rhubarb Curd
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In a medium heatproof mixing bowl, place eggs, sugar, strawberry rhubarb juice and heavy cream, if using, and whisk to combine. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (bain-marie). Cook on moderate heat, whisking constantly, until mixture becomes thick (mine was ready in 10 minutes, but it can take up to 20). If you have a thermometer, it should register 170°F/75°C; otherwise, it should coat the back of a wooden spoon and leave a clear pass if you run your finger through it. The curd will thicken more once cooled.
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Remove from heat and immediately strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Add butter, a few cubes at a time, and whisk until completely melted and incorporated, and mixture is smooth. Take your time with it—the whisking makes for an airy and light texture. Allow to cool to room temperature before filling the tart. (Curd can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Whisk the mixture to smooth it before using.)
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Fill the tart shell with strawberry rhubarb curd, then refrigerate for at least 5 hours until chilled. Serve with berries, whipped cream, or whipped mascarpone frosting if you like. The tart is rich, so cut your servings small.
Recipe Notes
Whipped vanilla bean mascarpone frosting recipe can be found here.
