Dub’s Sourwood Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

The inspiration for this recipe came on quite suddenly after one of my unforgettable phone conversations with my rather brilliant hillbilly friend, Dub. After shooting the breeze about the vagaries of life, we naturally segued into what was shaking with work, so when he asked me what I had in the oven, I grinned and replied,

“Well, it’s funny you should ask. I was fortunate enough to find some rhubarb and a whole mess of strawberries at the store this morning, so I’m gonna make a strawberry rhubarb pie. Or a tart, I can’t decide.”

“No kidding? How did you know that is my favorite pie?”
“Is it really? Oh my god, mine too! My mother grew up in Iron Mountain, Michigan and my grandmother always had rhubarb and the most succulent strawberries–the wild tiny ones– in the garden and her strawberry rhubarb pies were the best I’ve ever had.”

“Well, well, so we are both from strong mountain stock. (Dub grew up in the heart of Appalacia otherwise known as Virginia) Karen, let me tell you about the strawberry rhubarb pies I grew up on. First off, we didn’t use butter, we used lard to make our crusts because we were all about watching what we ate, and then my ma-maw would fill this fat filled crust with the most explosive filling you’ve ever put on your tongue. She wouldn’t use a spec of sugar, only sourwood honey.”

“Did you just say sourwood honey? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Well, it’s super rare. Sourwood honey is extremely hard to find. It’s very difficult to harvest and even more difficult to get your hands on because there is this delicate window of time when you can get the bees to do the collecting. From where I grew up, whenever there was a jar of sourwood honey in the house, a shotgun was right next to it with my mother’s hand on the trigger. Nobody touched the sourwood unless they were looking to get shot in keister .”

(Laughing out loud) “Are you kidding me?”

“Hell no I’m not kidding you. Sourwood honey, at least I’d like to think so, is probably the most prized honey in the world. I’ve never had anything like it. Ever. And simple as my people are, they know a block of gold when they see it. Gold in a jar. So, as i was saying, my ma-maw would take this liquid gold, toss those wild strawberries and rhubarb in it, bake it till bubbly and all I can say is dammit if those pies didn’t make my eyes cross.

“I have to try this honey, honey.”
“Well, do you have a car?”
“Yes,” I said brightly.
“Do you have a shotgun,” he replied, deadpan as ever.
“No.”
“Well, let me know when you get a shotgun and we’ll drive up to Virginia and get you some. That is of course if you want to get it the old fashioned way.”

I’ve already made a few calls to some local gun dealers to secure a shotgun and my car is ready to go, but Dub is so busy I don’t know when we’re gonna make it the old fashioned way, but when we do, I’ll be ready.

(In the meantime, here’s a little strawberry rhubarb tart to tide you over until my epic adventure takes place. No banjo music, please!)

Sourwood honey. Never heard of it, let alone tried the stuff, so after listening to Dub’s story, I quietly accepted the fact that the only way I was ever gonna get my hands on a jar of the stuff was if I started brandishing a firearm.

Luckily, I was able to find some of this liquid gold on the internet, so I put those gun safety courses on hold and clicked the purchase button.

Everyday I checked my mailbox, and every time, it felt just like the first time I ordered a blue button down sweater from a catalog when I was 10. I was giddy over this honey and I hadn’t even tried it yet. At last, when the golden nectar arrived, the first thing I said was, “well dip me in chocolate and call me Hershey! Dub is right!” Sourwood really is the best honey the world has ever had the chance to experience and this gluten free strawberry rhubarb tart does just what Dub said it would. It explodes in your mouth.

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I’d tag this recipe if I were you. It’s the color of a hot tamale that has had the hard outer coating sucked off for crying out loud! (and yes, I miss those like crazy!) And I am yet to find anyone that doesn’t like that. Serve with a healthy dollop of whipped cream for that curl your eyelashes experience.

If you can’t get your hands on the coveted sourwood honey, I also tested this recipe using wild sage honey, which is equally delicious.

Sourwood Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

For the Crust:

2 sticks cold unsalted cultured butter, diced
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1 1/2 teaspoons guar gum
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons castor sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk

Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix to evenly amalgamate.

Add the diced butter and mix on low until the mixture looks like damp sand. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until the dough folds in on itself. Dust your counter with additional glutinous rice flour and knead until smooth. Shape into a disk, wrap in cellophane and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 400F.
Remove dough 15 minutes before you begin to work. Roll out to a 1/2 inch thickness and line a 9″ tart case with the dough. Roll the rolling pin over the top of the tart case for a very clean finish. Smooth any tears with your finger dipped in water.

Dock the dough with the tines of a fork a dozen times. Spray parchment paper with non-stick and lay on top of the dough. Fill the tart case with rice and blind bake the shell for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the rice by lifting the parchment paper. Reserve the rice for your next tart. Return to the oven to brown lightly for 5 minutes.

Allow the case to cool completely.

Now make your filling:

1 cup diced rhubarb stalks (organic if possible)
2 cups quartered strawberries (organic if possible)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons sourwood (or sage infused) honey (or wild sage)
pinch of kosher salt
1 tablespoon sweet cream butter
2 gelatin sheets

Clean, wash and cut your rhubarb and strawberries. Toss in the lemon juice, lemon zest, sourwood honey and salt.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large sauce pan. When it foams, add the fruit mixture and cook until the fruit has broken down, about 10-12 minutes. Using a wand blender, purée the fruit.

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water until softened. Whisk into the hot fruit until very smooth. Pour into your tart case. Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours.

Chantilly Cream

2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup castor sugar
a few drops of pure vanilla extract

Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until firm enough to pipe. Fill a pipping bag fitted with a 1″ tip. Pipe either rosettes onto the tart or large beehives onto each slice. Garnish with mint leaves.

Serves 6

All photos by Knoxy