Strawberries and Rhubarb --------

Hi, My name is CantStopBaking and I'm a bake-a-holic. 

D'uh.

I am also slightly addicted to looking at pictures of food online.

(While we are getting everything out on the table here. No pun intended)

Anyways, I've noticed over the summer lots and lots of strawberry pies. They always intrigued me, but not enough to inspire me to actually make one. Strawberry pies are so pretty, but I just couldn't bring myself to put so many strawberries in one place. I just thought it would be overkill a little bit. Of course I generally follow the rule :
 "When it comes to dessert, there is no such thing as overkill."
 Which actually goes hand in hand with the rule:
 " When it comes to dessert there is no such thing as logic."
 So I guess it all makes sense in the end. 

Anyways.

Point is, I have never ever been inspired to make a strawberry pie, regardless of how pretty they are.  (For anyone wondering what a strawberry pie is,and what it looks like, you can check it out over here at Brown Eyed Baker.)

Well, this all changed recently when I tasted this delicious recipe consisting of strawberries and rhubarb.

 A match made in heaven, literally. 

The strawberries in here were so perfect. 

Not overkill, completely logical, and completely delicious. 

And of course, the reason for the incomplete title is because I'm not sure what you would call this. It all boils down to our kugel definition dilemma. So you may call this a cake, bars or a kugel. Call it what you will. Just make them- they are wicked good!

Strawberry Rhubarb Kugel

Filling:

1-16 ounce bag frozen strawberries

1-16 ounce bag frozen rhubarb

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Crumbs:

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

2 eggs

1 cup oil

4 teaspoons baking powder

4 cups flour

For the filling: Combine the strawberries and rhubarb in a medium saucepan. Cook over low flame until defrosted and softened. Stir and mash slightly, until it resembles a sauce. Add vanilla sugar, brown sugar and white sugar. Stir until combined. Remove from heat. Measure 1 cup of strawberry mixture, and place in a bowl. Add the cornstarch and stir until dissolved. Pour back into the saucepan, heat over medium flame, and cook until thickens. (About 1-2 minutes.) Remove from heat. 

For the crumbs: Preheat oven to 350°. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Pat 1/3 of the crumbs into an ungreased 9X13 pan. ( There will be leftover crumbs, so you can assemble it in a loaf pan as well.) Pour filling over the crumbs. Sprinkle remaining crumbs on top of the filling. Bake for about 40 minutes, until set and top is golden. You can also make this in 2 - 8'' square pans, plus a loaf pan. This freezes beautifully- just bake, cool, freeze and reheat when needed.