Rhubarb Pie à la Conticini | An elegant, delectable dessert consisting of sweet pastry dough, almond cream and rhubarb compote topped with a caramelized rhubarb lattice

At Three Feathers we are great fans of homegrown rhubarb and right now is the season. Sweet or savory (it’s great simply roasted in the oven as a side dish), this vegetable is a perennial plant that has stalks similar to celery and grows heartily in certain climates. We have a considerably sized rhubarb patch in our orchard and are always on the lookout for intriguing recipes and boy have we found a good one here!

Colin Prudhomme, our Grandson, has become quite passionate about cooking and introduced us to this recipe developed by pastry chef Philippe Conticini in his cookbook Sensations. Not only does this rhubarb pie stimulate the taste buds but the presentation is bluffing!

We will walk you through the detailed steps to make this tart just like the photograph (see photo at the end of recipe); the technique is fundamentally simple and easy to succeed.

Ingredients:
1) Pâte sucrée, or French sweet pastry dough (prepare the day before)
2 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour, preferably bread-making flour with less gluten (T55)
5/8 cup (140 grams) softened butter
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
3/4 cup (90 grams) confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup (40 grams) ground almonds
a pinch of salt
zest of 1 untreated lemon
1/4 teaspoons (5 grams) ground vanilla bean powder

2) Rhubarb compote (can be made the day before)
1 pound (500 grams) rhubarb stalks (leaves and rough ends trimmed away) = 4 large or 8 small stalks = 4 cups trimmed and chopped into 3 cm (1 inch) pieces
5/8 cup (120 grams) sugar (note: this quantity of sugar lets the rhubarb tartness shine through. You can go up to 3/4 cup (150 grams) of sugar if you prefer a sweeter compote)
1 1/2 (5 grams) teaspoons gelatin powder
1/8 cup (25 grams) ice water
3/8 (40 grams) filtered water
a pinch of salt

3) Almond cream
1/4 cup (30 grams) ground almonds
1/4 cup (30 grams) confectioner’s sugar
1/8 cup (30 grams) softened butter
2 tablespoons (30 grams) beaten egg
1 1/2 (8 grams) teaspoons dark rum

4) Caramelized rhubarb lattice
4 stalks of fresh rhubarb
Sugar

Preparation :

Pâte sucrée, or French sweet pastry dough (prepare one day before)

• Using a hand-mixer, or stand mixer with the flat beater attachment, cream the confectioner’s sugar with the softened butter, pinch of salt and ground vanilla bean powder for a couple of minutes on slow speed until light in color.
• Add the lemon zest and ground almonds and mix until incorporated.
• Add the eggs and mix again.
• Finally, add the flour – MIX AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE (2 seconds maximum on slow speed) to avoid shrinkage during baking. The flour does not need to be fully incorporated.

Divide the cold dough in half (there is enough for two pies) and freeze one half for another occasion. Using a spatula, scoop the pastry into a freezer bag or plastic wrap and flatten it out. Place the pastry dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours so that the butter hardens prior to rolling it out.

Remove the cold dough from the refrigerator and roll it out to 1/8 inch thick on a smooth and lightly floured surface. Be sure to lightly flour the rolling pin and dough itself to avoid sticking. To transfer the dough to the pie plate, roll the dough around the rolling pin, lift it off the countertop and place it in a 9″ x 1″ pie plate or spring-form baking pan. Form the dough to the pie plate and cut the top edge as evenly as possible as shown. Put the dough back in the refrigerator overnight to ensure that it will not shrink in the oven.

The next day, prick the dough thoroughly with a fork and bake in a convection oven at 300°C for 20 minutes.

Almond cream

• Lightly roast the ground almonds in a frying pan, stirring constantly until they start to become lightly colored. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the almonds into a bowl and let cool.
• Mix the sugar and softened butter until well blended.
• Add the beaten egg, cooled ground almonds and dark rum.
• Mix as little as possible to avoid adding air to the almond cream which will cause it to rise when baked.

Pour the cream onto the pre-cooked pastry dough and return to the oven at 300°C for another 25 minutes.

Let the pie cool on a wire rack. You can remove the pastry from the pie plate if you feel comfortable taking it out of the mold.

Rhubarb compote (can be made the day before)

• Dilute the powered gelatin in the ice water.
• Put the prepared rhubarb into a saucepan with the sugar and filtered water. Mix well and cook on low heat for 45 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent the sugar from caramelizing. The rhubarb should become thick like a jam or compote, without clumps.
• Remove the rhubarb from the heat and add the gelatin, mixing well by hand so that it melts.
• Set the rhubarb aside (refrigerate if you made it the day before or set aside).

Spread the rhubarb compote on top of the cooked pastry dough with almond cream and smooth it out. Refrigerate.

Caramelized rhubarb lattice

• Pre-heat your oven to 325°C.
• Using a mandolin, create long slices of rhubarb about 1/4 inch thick. They shrink down in the oven, so the thickness should not be too much or too little. We get the best results from a Microplane at the thickest setting or a sharp knife. Do not use a vegetable peeler as the slices will be too thin.
• Place the rhubarb strips on parchment paper and powder with sugar.
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, watching carefully to make sure the sugar does not burn.
• The rhubarb lattice strips should be almost transparent, caramelized and fairly supple to work with.

Place the rhubarb lattice, one strip next to the other, on the pie as shown. Cut the remainder of the rhubarb hanging out over the pie with kitchen scissors, turning the pie as you go.

Et voilà! We prefer this beautiful pie with a fresh bottle of our fruity Three Feathers Blanc de Noirs, or tangy Pinot Gris. For those that prefer Pinot Noir, we suggest pairing with a 2018 Cuvée Virginia.