Rhubarb Streusel Tart with Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Ice Cream

Before last night, I'd never tasted rhubarb before. Rhubarb doesn't grow in Texas, and I can't really recall having the opportunity to try it. Well, that's actually a lie. My grandfather, PawPaw, grew up in North Dakota and he loves rhubarb. I can remember spending weekends at my grandparents' house (in Houston) and while we all ate strawberry crepes, he would eat his crepes with frozen rhubarb (not cooked, raw with a little bit of sugar. He likes sour/tart things). But somehow the "red celery" never appealed to me as a filling for crepes.

I had been on the lookout for red celery at the farmers market because I knew that I really wanted to try it. I finally scored a few weeks ago, and then I had to figure out how I wanted to deal with it. Since I've never eaten it before, I was flying blind. There are lots of great recipes out there, but when I stumbled on this recipe in The Farm to Table Cookbook, by Ivy Manning, I was sold. I bought this cookbook last fall and I was taken with the subtitle of the book -- The Art of Eating Locally. It's a wonderful book with wonderful recipes, but this is the first time that I've actually used it. **Note** Ivy Manning actually has a blog, IvysFeast, where you can check out her recipes yourself and learn more about the art of eating locally. How exciting! I know I'm going to follow her . . .

It was actually the ice cream that sold me on the tart. Brown Sugar-Sour Cream? Sign me up! I made 1/2 a recipe of both the ice cream and the tarts because it's just me, and I ended up with three tartlets. Be forewarned, if you make the whole recipe, you'll end up with 10 leftover egg whites. When I was on my homemade ice cream kick last summer I remember having issues with all of the leftover whites. What do you do with your leftover whites? Besides freeze them? Angel food cakes are great . . . for a little while. I need to think of some fabulous way to use egg whites. I digress.
The two components take a bit of planning and preparation to put together, but there isn't one really complicated element of this recipe. And, although there are several different components, there are quite a few steps that can be done ahead of time. Desserts that can be tackled ahead of time always get a gold star from me. I made the ice cream base first, let it chill for a day, and then added the sour cream and froze the ice cream. The pate sucre was really, really fragile so I think that next time I might skip the chilling and rolling steps and just press it right into the tart shells. Other than that, it bakes up beautifully. The rhubarb filling is super simple to put together; and the streusel is delicious!

All in all, I'm completely smitten with this recipe . . . and with rhubarb. This tart is so tasty! And the ice cream is delicious all by itself. I think I might have to wait until next year to get more rhubarb, but when I do, I will surely make this again. It was so seriously delicious and I highly recommend that anyone with some rhubarb give it a shot.

Rhubarb Streusel Tart with Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Ice Cream
from The Farm to Table Cookbook, by Ivy Manning

For the Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 egg yolks

For the Streusel:
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 1/2 tablespoons of almond paste, or marzipan
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Filling:
1 1/2 pounds (about 6 cups) rhubarb, thinly sliced
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 qt Brown Sugar Sour Cream Ice Cream (recipe follows)

1. Crust. Blend together flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor or an electric mixer with the paddle attachment until the butter lumps are no larger than peas. Whisk the egg yolks in a small measuring cup and add just enough water to make 1/4 cup of liquid; add to flour mixture. Mix until the dough just starts to come together. Gather the dough, shape into a disc, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

2. Streusel. Combine butter, almond paste, sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a food processor until the mixture is in fine crumbles (alternatively, blend with a pastry blender). Refrigerate until needed.

3. Allow the dough to stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Roll on a lightly floured surface into a 1/3" disc, frequently rotating the dough to prevent from sticking. Transfer to a 9" tart pan with removable bottom or into 6 tartlet pans. Ease the dough into the pan, fitting it into the pan's contour with fingertips, leaving some dough hanging over the edges. Trim the pastry edges by rolling the pin over the rim and discard trimmings. Freeze the shell until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

5. Make the rhubarb filling by combining the rhubarb, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a large saute pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the rhubarb is fall apart tender, about 10 minutes.

6. Fill the tart shell with the rhubarb mixture to within 1/2" from the top of the crust. Sprinkle the streusel on top and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake until the streusel is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 45 minutes for the tart, or 25 to 30 minutes for the tartlets. Transfer the shell to a wire rack and cool completely. Using a small knife, gently loosen the crust from the sides of the pan. Push up on the bottom to release tart. Serve warm with the ice cream.

Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Ice Cream
(note: this ice cream is wonderful but the recipe (in my opinion) assumes that you've made ice cream before and you're familiar with tempering the egg yolks and cooking the custard. I didn't have trouble with it, but if you're new to making ice cream you may want to do a little bit of research on the method)

2 cups half & half
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
8 egg yolks
2 cups sour cream

1. In a small saucepan, scald the half-and-half over medium low heat until hot.

2. Whisk the brown sugar and egg yolks together in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the half-and-half.

3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until the mixture thickens enough to coat it, about 5 minutes.

4. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl (I used glass and it was fine). Refrigerate until cold, then whisk the sour cream into the half-and-half mixture and freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.