Finally I hold in my hands French patissier Eric Kayser’s book Tartes et gourmandises, an insider’s tip among connoisseurs in matters of  tarts and taste. After the first browsing through this whole lot of  sweet delicacies I decided to bake each and every tart in my own kitchen and share the recipes with you.
You will easily recognize the tartes et gourmandises  by their French title on the image.

Et voilá, number one,

Tarte à la rhubarbe et à l’orange

300g tart dough with almonds
1kg rhubarb
2 organically grown oranges
4oog sugar  (300g for the syrup, 100g for the filling)
125g softened butter
150g finely ground almonds
20g flour
3 eggs
2cl Grand Marnier
icing sugar

Wash the rhubarb and cut the stems into 2cm pieces. Finely grate the zest of the oranges. In a saucepan bring 1l water to a boil, add 300g sugar and the rhubarb. Bring to a boil for a second time. Strain rhubarb through a sieve and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

In a bowl beat the butter until creamy. Add sugar (100g), almonds and flour, then add the eggs one by one.
Beat until all ingredients are well blended. Mix in the grated orange peel and the Grand Marnier.

Roll out the dough (26cm circle or 20 x 30 rectangle) and and fit it into the base and up the sides of your tart pan. Distribute the rhubarb evenly on the dough. Spread the filling onto it and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve the tart cold sprinkled with icing sugar.

Tart dough with almonds (basic recipe)

500g flour
250g softened butter
50g sugar
100g icing sugar
60g finely grated almonds
5g salt
2 eggs

Beat the softened butter until until creamy. Add the sugar, the icing sugar, the almonds and the salt. Incorporate the eggs one by one. Mix in the flour until you get a homogenous dough. Shape into a ball and wrap in a plastic wrap. Refrigerate during the night.