It’s spring and with spring comes rhubarb season in the UK. Warmer weather is hopefully coming soon too. This rhubarb orange and pink peppercorns yoghurt tart is the perfect dessert to serve at any outdoor and indoor dinner party.
From the outside, it looks like a no-bake cheesecake, but it is not. Believe it or not, for this tart I was inspired by a classic ready-made tart kit which was, and still is, very common and popular in Italy. And rhubarb, of course.
Nowadays no-bake cheesecakes have become more popular in Italy, but when I was a kid, that was not the case. The closest thing you could get was a dessert kit, commercialised by a famous dessert company. It allowed you to make a tart with a biscuit base and a yoghurt cream filling.
You just needed to add melted butter and yoghurt and, voila, done. Serving suggestions included fresh fruit or fruit puree on top. A cheesecake lookalike, but no cheesecake. However, most Italians didn’t even know what a no-bake cheesecake was at the time, so it didn’t really matter. The only thing that mattered was that it tasted really good and it was easy to make. That was a regular feature in my childhood.
For this bake I decided to combine that childhood memory with the sweet and tangy flavour of rhubarb. The addition of a hint of orange and some pink peppercorns gives a twist to both the classic Italian no-bake yoghurt tart and British rhubarb topping. I have had this recipe in my back pocket for quite some time actually, waiting for rhubarb to be in season. The time has finally come.
A crumbly base inspired by my toffee and figs ‘fregolotta’ tart. A sweet and slightly acidic cream made with greek yoghurt and whipped cream. All of it topped by a layer of smooth and refreshing rhubarb puree cooked with orange, and enhanced by the delicate, fragrant, sweet, and spicy flavour of pink peppercorns. Sweet poached rhubarb and candied rhubarb twirls to finish it off and give it the visual wow factor it deserves. A proper showstopper.
Note: I have made my own crumbly tart base from scratch, as that gives the bake another layer of flavour. Anyway, if you are in a rush you can make your base using digestives biscuits or any other plain sweet biscuits or nuts of your choice. Similarly, the final decoration can be as simple or as complex as you like.
Are you looking for some more showstopper tart inspiration? My raspberry and lemon white chocolate mousse tart will definitely impress all your guests with its look and flavour. Or try this apple curd tart with crème fraîche whipped ganache for an original twist on a lemon pie or tart.
Makes one 20cm cake
Ingredients
FOR THE BASE
- 165g plain flour
- 45g caster sugar
- 85g double cream, cold
- 1g salt (a small pinch)
- 100g butter
FOR THE YOGHURT FILLING
- 500g Greek yoghurt
- 250g double cream
- 100g icing sugar
- 10g gelatine sheets
FOR THE RHUBARB TOPPING
- 500g fresh chopped rhubarb
- 100g caster sugar
- 40ml orange juice
- Zest of 1 orange
- 30ml lemon juice
- 1g salt (a small pinch)
- 5g corn flour (1/2 Tbsp)
- 20 to 25 pink peppercorns (based on your liking)
- pink or red gel food colouring
FOR THE RHUBARB DECORATIONS (if you feel like going the extra mile)
- 3 stalks of fresh rhubarb (try to get some nice bright red ones)
- 100ml water
- 100g caster sugar
- pink or red gel food colouring
Method
TO MAKE THE BASE
- Pre-heat the oven to170°C. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and give it a good stir. Pour the double cream into a separate bowl. Dip your fingertips into the double cream and start rubbing it into the flour mix until the cream has fully absorbed. Remove any bits stuck to your fingers and repeat until there is no more flour left and the mix has a coarse, crumbly consistency. You might not need to use all of the cream.
- Butter and flour a 20cm cake tin (or tart ring). Pour the crumbly mix into the tin, spread it around evenly to cover the base and lightly press it down with your fingers or a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until crisp and golden. Once the base is baked, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- In the meanwhile, chop the butter and transfer it into a small pan. Bring it to the boil over a medium heat. The melted butter will make a crackling sound. Let it foam and simmer until the crackling sound stops. At this point, wait a few more seconds, then remove it from the heat and strain it immediately into a bowl or jug. Set aside to cool.
TO MAKE THE RHUBARB TOPPING
- Put the rhubarb, sugar, orange zest and juice and lemon juice to a large pan and bring to the boil over a medium-high heat. When the mix its boiling, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes until the rhubarb is falling apart. Make sure you keep an eye on the pan towards the end as the little liquid might cause the puree to catch.
- Remove from the heat and transfer to a food processor. Add the peppercorns (for a better result, put them inside a plastic bag and bash them with a rolling pin first) and blitz to a smooth puree. Return the puree to the pan and reheat on a medium heat. Mix the cornflour with a splash of water and slowly add it to the puree, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook the puree for a few minutes to cook off the taste of the cornflour and to slightly thicken the mix. Add a few drops of red gel colouring until you achieve a pink shade of your liking. Transfer the puree to a bowl and leave to cool completely.
TO FINISH THE BASE AND MAKE THE YOGHURT FILLING
- Break the disc of crumble into powder, transfer to a food processor and blitz to a powder. Add the cooled brown butter and blitz a few times until fully mixed. Transfer to the same 20cm cake tin you used to bake the base and evenly distribute the crumble mix. Gently press down with your hands or a spatula to even thickness throughout and refrigerate for 30 minutes to set while you make the cream.
- Take the yoghurt out of the fridge and pour it in a large bowl. Lightly beat with a spatula to loosen and warm up a bit and set aside. Hydrate the gelatine sheets by cutting them into smaller pieces and leaving them to soak in cold water for about 15 minutes. In the meanwhile, take three tablespoons of cream out and reserve for later. Pour the rest into a bowl together with the icing sugar and whip until you achieve soft peaks consistency. The cream should still be shiny and glossy. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Add the gelatine to the reserved cream and heat over medium heat until the gelatine has completely melted in the cream. Transfer to a cold glass or bowl and leave to cool for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes have passed, take the cream out of the fridge. Add 2 tablespoons of yoghurt to the gelatine and mix until combined, to prevent the gelatine from clumping up. Add it back to the rest of the yoghurt and gently fold in the whipped cream in three times until you achieve a fluffy and airy mix.
Note: in case lumps occur when you add the gelatine to the yoghurt, no panic. Just blitz the yoghurt with a stick blender until the lumps have disappeared, trying to incorporate as little air as possible while blitzing. Then fold in the whipped cream, et voila’, you are back on track.
TO ASSEMBLE THE TART
- Take the cake tin out of the fridge, spoon all of the yoghurt and cream mix onto the base and spread evenly all over, smoothing out the top with a spatula or a palette knife. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours, take the tin our of the fridge again, weigh 300g of rhubarb topping and spread it all over the tart, using a palette knife to achieve a smooth finish. If it’s too firm, briefly beat with a fork or a spatula to soften. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until ready to decorate and eat.
OPTIONAL RHUBARB DECORATIONS
At this point, the tart is perfectly delicious as it is, but if you wanna impress your family and friends, you can go the extra mile and make some rhubarb decorations such as I did for my tart. The good thing is, you can make them before any other component and keep them ready to use.
TO MAKE THE RHUBARB SEGMENTS
Chop two stalks of rhubarb into 5cm segments, cutting them at an angle. Make a simple syrup by combining the water and sugar in a pan, and bring to the boil. When boiling, add the segments to the pan and cook for 4 to 5 minutes over a medium heat, until just soft but not falling apart. Remove from the heat, scoop out with a slotted spoon and leave to cool completely over a paper towel. Reserve the cooking liquid.
TO MAKE THE RHUBARB TWIRLS
Heat the oven to 100°C. Your cooking liquid from the segments should have a nice pink colour, but you can brighten it up more by adding some food colouring. Keep the syrup warm on a low heat (but don’t let it boil). Using a vegetable peeler, peel long strips out of the last rhubarb stalk left. Throw away the first strip from each side, since the skin does not work as well as the flesh. Leave the strips to soak in the bright pink syrup for about 5 minutes, then pick them up and lay them onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Bake for 30 minutes, flip over each strip and bake for another 30 minutes, so that they dry evenly on both sides.
Once baked, open the door of the oven but leave the tray inside. Pick up one strip at a time and roll it to form a spiral around a chopstick or a wooden spoon handle. Hold it in place for 20 seconds, it should firm up and retain the shape. Slide it off and leave aside to cool. Repeat with all the other strips. If the strip doesn’t hold the shape, bake for a bit longer and try again. Once they are cooled, store them in an airtight container until ready to use.