Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I first had strawberry and rhubarb together in a pie back in college. I went on a trip to Martha's Vineyard with a friend whose family had a place on the island. We had pie at Black Dog cafe and to this day I still think about how good it was. So when I saw this recipe, I had to try it.

If you read this blog, you will know that I do a fair amount of gluten free cooking and this recipe at first blush does not seem like a good candidate because of the "crumble" (almond/flour batter) on top. But compared to a full pie, a crumble only has a top and not a full crust. A full crust is hard to mimic using gluten free flour, but the top in this crumble is intended to be, well, crumbly and not a "perfect" top. It therefore is a great recipe to replace with gluten free flour since there is a lot of wiggle room as they say. 

I used roasted and salted almonds instead of sliced almonds because we had them in the house so I didn't have to go buy sliced almonds. The recipe came out just great. Because they were already salted, I left out the 1/4 t of salt from the topping.

Here is flour recipe.

This recipe was contributed by Andrew Zimmern to Food and Wine.

ACTIVE: 45 MIN

TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 35 MIN

SERVINGS: 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

FILLING

1 quart strawberries, hulled and quartered (32 oz)

1 pound rhubarb, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

TOPPING

1/2 cup sliced almonds

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

MAKE THE FILLING Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, toss the strawberries and rhubarb with the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and salt. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.

MAKE THE TOPPING Spread the almonds in a 9-inch pie plate and toast, stirring once, until golden and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Let cool completely.

In a food processor, pulse the almonds with the flour, baking soda and salt until the almonds are coarsely ground. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream the butter with both sugars until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat at medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl again. Add the almond-flour mixture all at once and mix at low speed just until incorporated.

Pour the fruit into the pie plate. Dollop teaspoon-size clumps of the batter over the fruit. Bake until the topping is deeply browned and the juices bubbling up around it appear thickened, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly; serve warm.