Strawberry and Roasted Rhubarb Custard Tarts

I am a delinquent French Fridays with Dorie member. I haven't posted anything in months, but when I saw that rhubarb was on the menu I jumped back on board. A day late, but I'm posting! Rhubarb season is pretty well finished here, but I grabbed a bunch last weekend at the farmers' market, along with a basket of local strawberries. I know that strawberries get all the glory, but I prefer the rhubarb. I just can't get enough of its acidity and tang.

Rhubarb surprise under the pastry cream!

These tarts were made from some rough puff pastry I had in the freezer, left over from the custard tarts. I cut small circles and baked them at 400℉ for about 10 minutes in a muffin tin, then turned them out onto a rack to cool. I was too lazy to line them and fill them with beans, so they shrunk a bit, but they were incredibly crisp and flaky. I made a quick pastry cream and piped it into the cooled shells, over a layer of the roasted rhubarb. Then I plopped a strawberry or more rhubarb on top and dessert was ready. These were so tiny that 2 or 3 seemed like a reasonable serving.

Straight rhubarb for me, please

The rhubarb was delicious, very tangy and not too watery. We don't post the recipes from Around my French Table, but you can find this one here on Dorie's blog. I used a vanilla bean instead of orange, as I find the orange takes over the rhubarb flavour a bit, and I like it to be front and centre. Enjoy!