Rhubarb Crostada with Crème Anglaise

It is finally rhubarb season in my part of the world.  My good neighbour, Verdella, came to my house this afternoon with an armful for me.

Crème Anglaise is really just a thick pouring custard.  It can be used with cakes, pies and fresh fruit.  It is so simple and can be so elegant.  I always use a double boiler when making this.  I think it will be excellent with rhubarb crostada.

Rhubarb Crostada with Crème Anglaise

Crème Anglaise

1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
3 tbsp sugar

1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.
2. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.
3. Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.
4. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Rhubarb Crostada

Pastry Dough:
3/4 c chilled, unsalted butter
3 tbsp ice water
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Cut butter into 1/2″ cubes; keep cold. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt. Add chilled butter and mix it into dry ingredients using your fingertips. Add the ice water gradually until the crust has a crumbly, crumb like texture. Turn out onto work surface. Shape into disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour. In the meantime, prepare the filling.

Filling:

5c (about 5 medium stalks) rhubarb, diced into 1″ cubes
zest of 1/2 an orange
1 c sugar
1/3 c cornstarch
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
approx 3 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Other:
small handful of flour for work surface
2 tbsp cream
1/4 c turbinado sugar


Combine rhubarb; zest in large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add dry to rhubarb mixture and mix. Add orange juice and mix well. The dry ingredients should be slightly wet. If they are still very dry, add more juice, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing after each addition. Set aside.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Remove the dough from refrigerator and let rest on counter for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle a small handful of flour on the work surface, unwrap the dough and place on flour. Using a rolling pin, pound the dough to flatten slightly. Start rolling the disk out, starting at the center, rotating the disk so that your pin is always straight (this will prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface). Be sure to reshape the dough into a circle whenever necessary and to repair any cracks. Once the dough is about 1/2″ thick, roll it onto the rolling pin and transfer it to the prepared sheet.

Mix the rhubarb filling once again. It should be quite moist at this point. Pile the filling in the center of the dough and spread out, leaving a 2″ border. Fold the sides of the crostada up over the filling. Repair any small tears.Brush the crostada crust with cream (do not brush the filling) using a pastry brush. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar on top of the wash.

Bake for about 45 min or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is golden. Serve with Creme Anglaise.