Rhubarb Raspberry Tartelettes with Almond

Cut the rhubarb into pieces. Freeze the raspberries if they’re not already. This is the opposite of a complicated dessert — looks impossible, tastes like you spent all day on it. Takes an hour and ten minutes total, and most of that is waiting.

Why You’ll Love These Rhubarb Raspberry Tartelettes

Individual tarts. No slicing. Everyone gets their own perfect piece. The mousse is light but tastes like actual fruit — rhubarb and raspberry, not air with a whisper of flavor. Almond sablés underneath are buttery and snap when you bite them. Crispy on the outside, tender inside, the way it should be. Make them a day ahead. Maybe two hours before dinner, pull them from the fridge. They thaw while you eat the first course. Looks like a pastry shop made them. Sounds like bragging when you say you did.

What You Need for Rhubarb Raspberry Tartelettes

Rhubarb and raspberries — fresh or frozen doesn’t matter. Frozen actually works better sometimes because it’s already soft. 90 grams of rhubarb, 25 of raspberries. Sugar, water, lemon juice to make the purée. The lemon stops it from tasting too sweet.

Gelatin. Just 2 ml — that’s less than half a teaspoon. Enough to hold the mousse together without making it rubbery. Cold water to bloom it.

Whipping cream. 35% butterfat. Not the aerosol stuff. 120 ml of it, whipped with 20 ml of sugar until it holds its shape but isn’t stiff.

Flour. All-purpose. Almond flour too — 25 grams. This is what makes the sablé different. Butter, 65 grams. Sugar, 45 grams. One egg yolk. Salt.

Fresh raspberries for the top. Halved. About 150 grams. Edible flowers if you want them. You don’t need them.

How to Make the Rhubarb Raspberry Purée

Dice the rhubarb small. Put it in a saucepan with the raspberries, sugar, water, lemon juice. Get it hot fast — boil it for maybe two minutes. Then back off to a simmer. Let it go until the rhubarb falls apart. Fifteen minutes usually does it. Stir occasionally. Doesn’t need constant attention.

The color changes. Starts red. Gets darker, almost purple. That’s when you know it’s done.

Blend it smooth. Or mash it if you want texture. I blend it. Let it cool to room temperature.

This keeps a week in the fridge in a sealed container. You’ll need 50 ml for the mousse. The rest goes on top at the end.

How to Make the Mousse for Tartelettes

Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water. That’s 2 ml gelatin, 10 ml water. Just sit there for six minutes. Don’t stir. The gelatin absorbs the water and gets soft.

Microwave it for twenty seconds. Stir it. Make sure there are no lumps. It should be clear and pourable.

Pour it into the 50 ml of cooled purée. Stir carefully — you’re combining them, not beating air into it. Mix until even.

Whip the cream. Start slow. The sugar goes in after it starts to get thicker. Whip until soft peaks form. Not stiff. There’s a moment — maybe thirty seconds — where it’s perfect. Past that and it’s butter.

Fold the cream into the purée. Use a spatula. Turn the bowl, fold, turn, fold. Don’t be aggressive. Three minutes of this.

Get six silicone donut molds or ring molds or whatever cavity you have that’s roughly the right size — the mousse needs walls. Spread the mousse into them with a spatula. Freeze for two hours. Pop them out carefully onto a tray. Keep them frozen until you’re ready to assemble.

How to Get the Almond Sablé Crust Right

Sift the flour, almond flour, salt together. Sifting matters here. It breaks up any clumps and makes the dough lighter.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Electric mixer on medium. Goes pale. Takes maybe three minutes. Add the egg yolk. Mix until it’s smooth and no streaks of yolk show.

Add the dry ingredients slowly. Spoon or mixer on low. The dough comes together and gets slightly sticky. That’s correct. Form it into a disk, wrap it in plastic, chill for an hour. You can chill it up to three days.

Heat the oven to 160 Celsius. Middle rack. Roll the dough on a floured surface to three millimeters thick — about 25 by 15 centimeters. Cut six rounds with a 7.5 centimeter cutter. Put them on a parchment-lined tray and freeze them for eight minutes. This keeps them from spreading too much.

Bake ten to thirteen minutes. Watch them. The edges go golden. The center is still pale but set. Cool them on the tray for thirty minutes. They’ll firm up completely as they cool.

Rhubarb Raspberry Tartelettes: Assembly and Storage

Set a sablé on a plate or in a shallow dish. Place a frozen mousse ring on top. Let it thaw. Fridge takes an hour and a half to two hours. Room temperature is about forty minutes.

The purée you saved — the stuff that didn’t go in the mousse. Spoon it into the center of the ring. It pools there. The contrast of colors matters.

Arrange the raspberry halves around the ring. Cut side up, cut side down, mix them. Scatter edible flowers if you’re doing that. You probably don’t need them.

Cover them and store in the fridge. Maximum one day. After that the sablé starts to soften and the mousse starts to weep. But honestly, they’re at their best eaten the day after you make them.

Rhubarb Raspberry Tartelettes with Almond

By Emma

Prep:

35 min

Cook:

20 min

Total:

1h 10min

Servings:

6 servings

Ingredients

• Rhubarb Raspberry Purée
• 90 g rhubarb fresh/frozen diced
• 25 g raspberries fresh/frozen
• 30 g sugar
• 30 ml water
• 6 ml lemon juice
• Mousse
• 2 ml gelatin
• 10 ml cold water
• 50 ml rhubarb raspberry purée
• 120 ml 35% whipping cream
• 20 ml sugar
• Sablés
• 60 g all-purpose flour
• 25 g almond flour
• 0.5 ml salt
• 65 g unsalted butter softened
• 45 g sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• Garnish
• 150 g fresh raspberries halved
• Edible flowers (optional)

Method

1. Fruit Purée
2. 1 Put rhubarb, raspberries, sugar, water, lemon juice in a saucepan. Boil briefly then simmer until fruit breaks down, about 15 minutes. Blend until smooth. Cool. Purée lasts a week sealed in fridge. Let warm slightly before mousse.
3. Mousse
4. 2 Sprinkle gelatin over cold water. Wait 6 minutes. Microwave 20 seconds or until dissolved; no lumps.
5. 3 Mix purée and gelatin carefully.
6. 4 Whip cream slowly with sugar until soft peaks form but not stiff. Fold cream gently into purée.
7. 5 Spread mousse into 6 silicone donut molds or similar cavities with spatula. Freeze 2 hours or until firm enough to pop out.
8. 6 Remove mousse rings carefully, keep frozen until mounting.
9. Sablés
10. 7 Sift flour, almond flour, salt together in bowl.
11. 8 Cream butter and sugar till pale. Add yolk, mix smooth.
12. 9 Add dry ingredients gradually with spoon or mixer low speed. Dough slightly sticky, form into disk, wrap plastic. Chill 1 hour or up to 3 days.
13. 10 Heat oven 160 C (320 F), rack mid-level. Line tray with parchment or silicone mat.
14. 11 Roll dough on floured surface to 3 mm thickness, approx 25x15 cm rectangle.
15. 12 Cut 6 rounds with 7.5 cm cutter. Freeze rounds 8 minutes on tray to firm.
16. 13 Bake 10-13 minutes until edges golden. Cool 30 minutes on tray.
17. Assembly
18. 14 Set sablés on plate or individual dishes.
19. 15 Place mousse rings on sablés. Let thaw in fridge 1.5 to 2 hours or 40 minutes room temp.
20. 16 Fill ring centers with purée left over.
21. 17 Arrange raspberry halves around mousse ring; face cut sides in or out, mix for texture.
22. 18 Optional flowers scattered on top.
23. 19 Store tartelettes covered in fridge maximum 1 day.

Nutritional information

Calories

230

Protein

3g

Carbs

20g

Fat

14g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Rhubarb Raspberry Tartelettes

Can I make these with frozen fruit instead of fresh? Frozen’s better for the purée honestly. It’s already soft. Fresh works too but takes a bit longer to break down. The raspberries especially — frozen ones just collapse.

Do I need special molds to make the mousse rings? No. Silicone donut molds work. Ring molds work. Even small glasses or ramekins if you’re careful removing them. Anything with walls basically.

What if I don’t have gelatin or can’t use it? The mousse won’t hold its shape the same way. You could use agar agar instead — it’s firmer. Or just skip it and make it a loose mousse. Tastes the same. Looks different.

Can I make these ahead? The sablés keep for three days in an airtight container. The purée keeps a week sealed. The mousse should be frozen until you’re ready to assemble — don’t make it more than two days before. Assemble them up to one day before eating.

What’s the deal with the almond flour? It changes the flavor. Makes it more interesting than straight butter cookies. Use all-purpose flour if you don’t have almond flour but it’ll taste more basic. Not bad. Just different.

Why does the tartelette recipe say to cool the sablés for thirty minutes? They’re fragile warm. Half an hour and they’re solid enough to stand on their own without breaking. Cold from the oven they crack if you look at them.