I’ve been feeling annoyed and frustrated the whole day. I meditated and practiced yoga this morning, which made me feel better, but then I fell back into my funk when the neighbor’s workers were making so much noise that I couldn’t even enjoy my breakfast outside. So I had to fall back on my last resort: baking.

I bought rhubarb at my favorite local health food store yesterday, which is a great foundation for a delicious crumble. I created this recipe 2 years ago (those of you who receive my newsletter may remember), but I changed it a bit today. This crumble is slightly tart from the rhubarb, yet the strawberries and syrup give it just the right amount of sweetness. The balsamic vinegar enhances the flavor of both fruits. The topping is crunchy and chewy at the same time. And it is vegan and gluten-free. So what’s not to like?

After having a nice serving of my crumble I decided to write this blog post and share the recipe here. Whether it was the yoga, the meditation, the crumble, or the writing, fact is that I feel better now. I hope you enjoy the baking and eating of the crumble as much as I did, whether you are annoyed or not!

You will need:

• 3 big (or 6 small) stalks of rhubarb, washed and cut into small pieces
• 0.5 lb. / 250 gr strawberries, washed and cut into quarters
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• ¾ tbs. maple syrup
• 1 cup raw almonds
• 2 tbsp. oat flour
• 2 tbsp. raw cane sugar
• 2 tbsp. Earth Balance (or butter, but then it’s not vegan) + some extra
• 2 handfuls of raw coconut flakes
• salt

To make the filling:

Mix the rhubarb, strawberries, balsamic vinegar, 3/4 tablespoon of maple syrup and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes. (Believe me, the balsamic vinegar makes all the difference!)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. / 180 C.

To make the crumble topping:

Crush the almonds in a food processor into coarse flour, so there are still some chunks of almond left (this gives a nice texture to the crumble). Put the almond flour in a bowl together with the oat flour, coconut flakes and 2 table spoons of sugar, and mix it well. Then add the Earth Balance (it’s a vegan “butter” that has a nice nutty flavor, but normal butter would work as well) in little pieces. The mixture should be loose and flaky, not sticky.

Grease an oven dish (2 l. / 2 qrt. size) with a rather thick layer of Earth Balance (or butter). This will melt into the fruit to make it even better. Add the fruit mixture. Cover the fruit mixture evenly with the crumble topping.

Bake for 35 – 40 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the top is nicely browned.

Serve slightly warm (with a scoop of coconut yoghurt).

Enjoy!