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What you need

Pastry:

250g plain flour

125g cold butter

25g icing sugar

3 tbsp milk

salt

Filling:

400g rhubarb

200g caster sugar

75g butter, 2 eggs

125g ground almonds

MANY amateur cooks, even quite confident ones, find making pastry intimidating, but making a good pie or tart isn’t that hard once you grasp the basic concepts.

When flour is mixed with water, proteins in the flour link together into long strands called gluten that can make dough springy. With pastry, unlike bread, the objective is usually to limit gluten by using low-protein flour, less water and little kneading. This helps to create tender and flaky textures. Any sugar or acid added to the dough will also inhibit gluten formation.

The way that fat is incorporated into the dough plays a big part in determining the texture of pastry. In shortcrust pastry, fat is worked in to coat the flour particles and stop them from becoming hydrated. A little water or milk helps the dough come together, but the fat inhibits the formation of a gluten network.

In puff pastry, cold butter is incorporated into the flour so that much of it stays in distinct layers, separating thin layers of dough. Butter is around 16 per cent water. In the oven, the water evaporates quickly, pushing apart layers of dough and creating a flaky texture.

For both kinds of pastry, you must be careful not to overwork the dough, or you will warm the butter and make it release water. This will result in excessive gluten and a chewy, tough result. That is why pastry chefs use cool marble worktops and chill their tools. Vegetable shortening is more forgiving than butter, but doesn’t melt in the mouth or taste as good.

When it comes to choosing a recipe, rhubarb tart is one of my favourites. In the UK, rhubarb season begins in April, but before then you can buy forced rhubarb. These plants are kept in the dark, making their stems grow quickly in search of light. This gives them a sweet taste and a rich red colour.

To make the shortcrust pastry for the tart, mix the flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt. Cut the butter into cubes and rub it into the mixture with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add just enough milk to form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic and chill it for an hour.

Grease a 26-centimetre tart case. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a circle that is about 3 millimetres thick, then press it into the case and poke holes all over the base with a fork. Place a piece of greaseproof paper on the pastry and fill the case with baking beans or uncooked rice to stop the pastry base from rising. Bake for 15 minutes at 180°C, then another 15 minutes without the paper and beans.

Cut the rhubarb into pieces 4 centimetres long. Toss with 75g of sugar and leave for an hour to absorb sugar and release moisture. For the filling, mix the butter and 125g of sugar, then mix in two eggs and 125g of ground almonds. Spread this into the pastry case, then press the rhubarb pieces into the filling, arranged artfully. Bake for 35 minutes at 180°C.

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