Rhubarb curd tart with Italian meringue

Rhubarb curd tart with Italian meringue – beautiful and delicious. I have to admit that homemade shortcrust pastry works better in tarts than a biscuit base: it is more stable and, of course, more delicious. It also looks beautiful with the meringue topping.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

• 200 g plain flour
• 90 g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 30 g cold lard*, cut into cubes
• 60 g icing sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2–3 tbsp cold water

Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the butter and lard and quickly rub or cut them into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, salt and cold water and quickly bring the dough together. Alternatively, you can prepare it in a food processor. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30–60 minutes.

Grease a 24 cm tart tin with butter and dust with flour, shaking off any excess. Roll out the chilled dough to approximately 3 mm thick and use it to line the tin. Chill again for 30 minutes. Dust the chilled pastry lightly with flour and cover with baking paper. Fill with ceramic baking beans to weigh the pastry down (you can also use dried beans or rice).

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Reduce the temperature to 190°C, place the pastry in the oven and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven, carefully remove the baking paper and weights, reduce the temperature to 180°C, return the pastry to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until golden and fully baked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Ingredients for the rhubarb filling:

• rhubarb curd – prepared according to this recipe

Fill the cooled tart shell with the rhubarb curd and smooth the surface.

Ingredients for the Italian meringue:

• 4 egg whites, at room temperature
• 300 g caster sugar (260 g + 40 g)
• 60 ml water

Place 260 g of the sugar and 60 ml water in a small saucepan. Stir and bring to the boil. Insert a sugar thermometer and cook over medium heat, without stirring at any point, until the syrup reaches 118°C (245°F).

Meanwhile, when the syrup reaches 100°C (210°F), start whisking the egg whites. Whisk as for a meringue until stiff, gradually adding the remaining 40 g sugar, one teaspoon at a time, while continuing to whisk. As soon as the syrup reaches the required temperature, remove it from the heat. Increase the mixer speed to maximum and slowly pour the hot syrup into the egg whites in a thin, steady stream, without stopping the mixer. Continue whisking for 5–8 minutes. The meringue should be very stiff, thick and glossy, and should have cooled down.

Spread the meringue over the rhubarb curd and shape as desired. Brown the meringue with a kitchen torch. Alternatively, place the tart under a hot grill at 200°C for approximately 5–7 minutes, until lightly browned.

* Lard makes the pastry especially crisp and crumbly, but you can replace it with an additional 30 g of butter.

Enjoy!