When growing up, we had a great variety of fruits in our garden. My favorites were raspberries and strawberries. It was exciting to watch them grow, and my brother and I could barely wait for them to be ripe enough to eat. And once they were ripe, we sneaked into the garden to eat as many of them as we could without my mum noticing (she needed them to make cakes, desserts, and jam).
One fruit – or rather vegetable as I just recently found out – that didn’t catch our attention was rhubarb. You shouldn’t eat it raw, and it was very sour unless it was served with a lot of sugar. So we were not intrigued.
It was only until a few years ago that I rediscovered this beautiful vegetable for baking. The tart taste of rhubarb pairs perfectly with the sweetness of cake or pie dough. There are a lot of different recipes, and you probably have your favorite version. But this time I opted for rhubarb bars with a lovely pattern. I found the recipe on smitten kitchen, and I immediately knew that I have to give it a try.
The ombré like pattern makes these bars exceptionally pretty and the flavor combination is divine. The sweet frangipane balances out the sourness of the rhubarb and a simple pastry dough acts as a base.
I changed the recipe slightly; using whole wheat spelt flour and reducing the sugar quite a bit.
With rhubarb being in season only for a couple of months, I’d suggest you start baking now!
If you like fruit pies and cakes, check out this apple cake or these fig muffins.
Love,
Marion
Rhubarb almond bars
A pretty and delicious rhubarb recipe!
Ingredients
- For the crust:
- 245g whole-wheat spelt flour
- 230g cold unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 70g sugar
- For the filling:
- 150g sliced almonds
- 20g wholegrain spelt flour
- Pinch of salt
- 120g sugar
- 140g cold unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract or a few drops of almond baking aroma
- 500g fresh rhubarb
Directions
- Step 1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a baking pan (23x33cm or 9x13inch) with parchment paper.
- Step 2 Place the almonds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast for 5-10 minutes. Be careful as they burn easily. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Step 3 To make the crust, combine the flour, butter, salt, and sugar in the bowl. Using your hand or your standing mixer with the paddle attachment, mix until the dough comes together.
- Step 4 Transfer the dough to your prepared baking pan and press it evenly across the bottom and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool (you can speed this up by transferring it to a cooling rack and place it in your freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Step 5 To make the filling, mix almonds, sugar, flour, and salt together in a blender or food processor and blend until the nuts have a flour-like consistency. Add the butter, eggs, and the almond flavoring and mix until combined. Spread the filling over the cooled crust.
- Step 6 Wash and trim the rhubarb and cut it in half horizontally top to bottom. Keep the tops and bottoms stacked and cut the stalks on the diagonal into about 3cm / 1,25-inch lengths. Creating a “V” shape (bottom & top), place each pair on top of the filling.
- Step 7 Transfer to the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes until they’re golden on top.
- Step 8 Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
