These raspberry squares are the berry cousin of lemon bars: bursting with fresh and slightly tart raspberries, they’re beautifully colorful, fruity, and just sweet enough.
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Want to know what summer tastes like? Bite into one of these raspberry squares. The berry cousin of lemon bars, these raspberry squares are bursting with fresh, juicy and slightly tart raspberries, so they’re fruity and sweet, but not overly so. The use of a little cornstarch in the crust makes it super crisp (also allowing to reduce the amount of butter used in the recipe), and pecans contribute to balance out the bright flavor of the fruit. The filling is almost all raspberry, and again, a little cornstarch is used to thicken the mixture and allow it to set instead of additional egg yolks and butter, letting the fruit shine and making the dessert almost sinless. I like to serve these raspberry squares topped with additional fresh raspberries, but they’re absolutely fantastic on their own too.
These raspberry squares are the berry cousin of lemon bars: bursting with fresh and slightly tart raspberries, they’re beautifully colorful, fruity, and just sweet enough.
For the crust: Combine flour, ground pecan nuts, powdered sugar, cornstarch and ¼ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add the oil and butter. Using a fork or your fingertips, blend into the flour mixture until evenly combined. The mixture should be a little crumbly. Firmly press the dough into the prepared pan. Bake until just barely beginning to brown around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes.
For the filling: While the crust is baking, combine raspberries and water in a medium saucepan. Cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until the fruit is very soft and mostly broken down, 4 to 6 minutes. Pour through a strainer into a medium bowl, pressing on the solids to extract all the liquid. Discard the seeds. Pour the strained juice into a measuring cup. You need 1 cup strained juice; remove any extra or add a little water if you are short. Stir in lemon juice.
Whisk granulated sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl until well combined. Whisk in eggs. Stir in the juice mixture, pouring it slowly into the egg mixture while beating constantly. Pour the filling over the crust.
Bake until just set, 15 to 20 minutes. (The center should still be a little jiggly—it will firm up as it cools.) Let cool to room temperature in the pan on a wire rack, about 1½ hours. Gently slide a sharp knife along the edges of the pan that are not covered with parchment paper, and lift out of the pan all in one piece using the edges of the parchment paper. Cut into 9 squares.
SERVING: Dust with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh raspberries, if desired, just before serving.
STORAGE: Keep remaining squares in an airtight container (in a single layer) in the fridge and eat within 3 days.
MAKE IT DAIRY-FREE: Use vegan butter or margarine instead of regular butter in the crust.
Recipe Credit: Marie Asselin, FoodNouveau.com. Adapted from a recipe by Eating Well Magazine.
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I made 2 trays of these for a charity “cake bake” at work.They went within minutes. I made a few little changes and swapped the Raspberries for English Strawberries as they were right in peak season. I also added a little double cream into the mix.
So there you go… English summer on a plate…The Wimbledon Strawberries and Cream cake…Awesome and thanks very much.
Alan
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Consider it a welcome tour of my home, because if you were to come and knock at my door right now, you’d be likely to find one of these treats in my kitchen!
I made 2 trays of these for a charity “cake bake” at work.They went within minutes. I made a few little changes and swapped the Raspberries for English Strawberries as they were right in peak season. I also added a little double cream into the mix.
So there you go… English summer on a plate…The Wimbledon Strawberries and Cream cake…Awesome and thanks very much.
Alan
I love this light recipe with just enough butter to make it taste decadent. I can’t wait to make these bars :)