I’m an avid food magazine reader, which will probably come as no surprise. However despite my love of virtually flicking through the pages of a food magazine on my iPad, and bookmarking recipes I want to try, it’s actually a rare occasion that I actually get around to cooking the recipes I have bookmarked. Although sometimes I do, take these Chocolate Pots de Creme with Red Wine Poached Cherries for example.

It’s not that I don’t want to actually try the recipes, nor that I can’t be bothered, it’s just that there is a huge world of recipe inspiration out there that I seem to be suffering from a case of recipe overload in that sometimes I just can’t decide which recipe to try first.

More often than not the food I have on hand will dictate what I make, and it did yet again on this occasion, however I was also inspired of Ben O’Donoghue’s Lemon Slice recipe from August’s delicious magazine. Although all that remains of Ben’s original recipe is the pastry base, which I modified to use wholemeal flour. Sorry Ben!

I love Lemon slice, it’s mouthpuckeringly good, but on this occasion I wanted to use some of the strawberries I had left over. Inspired by the strawberry curd I’d made for the Strawberry Meringue Cupcakes, and having already resolved to make another batch I thought why not tweak it a little to make these Strawberry Crumble Bars.

The recipe for the strawberry curd here differs a little from the Strawberry Meringue Cupcakes as I wanted to take amp up the strawberry flavour as I felt with the pastry base and crumble topping the strawberry would need a little help shining through. While not as intense as Lemon Bars, these Strawberry Crumble Bars are much more subtle in their approach, and are perfect for enjoying with a cup of tea for a mid afternoon treat. You can even kick things up a notch by adding slices of fresh strawberry on top of the pastry base before adding the curd for a double dose of  strawberry deliciousness. And, if you love the sound of strawberry crumble why not check out my Strawberry Crumble Cheesecake Parfaits.

Have a great weekend!

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5.0 from 2 reviews

Strawberry Crumble Bars

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

65 mins

Total time

1 hour 35 mins

 

Ingredients

• STRAWBERRY CURD
• 2 egg, plus 2 egg yolks
• 160g caster sugar
• 80g butter
• 350g of strawberries, hulled
• BASE
• 250g of wholemeal flour
• 75g of icing sugar, sifted
• 180g of chilled unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbs of cold milk
• CRUMBLE
• ⅔ cup of wholemeal flour
• 120g of butter, chopped
• 4 tbs of brown sugar
• 2 tbs of white sugar

Instructions

1. To make the strawberry curd begin by placing the strawberries in the bowl of a food processor and pureeing until smooth. Strain the strawberry mixture into a jug through a fine mesh sieve to remove any seeds. Place the eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a saucepan and whisk until smooth. Add the butter, pureed strawberries and place over a medium low heat. Whisk until thickened, this will take between 5 to 10 minutes. The mixture will be ready when you can see a slight trail from the whisk in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
2. To make the base combine the icing sugar and flour in a food processor and process to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Then add the egg yolk and milk and pulse until the mixture comes together in a ball. Turn out onto cling film, shape into a disc and cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (355 Fahrenheit) and grease and line a 28cm x 18cm pan with baking paper. Press the pastry into the base of the pan and then prick all over with a fork and chill for a further 15 minutes before baking for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool to room temperature before spreading the strawberry curd of the cooked pastry.
4. To make the crumble topping, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment combine all of the ingredients and turn on to the lowest speed. Mix until the butter resembles the size of peas. Scatter of the strawberry curd.
5. Return to the oven to bake at 180 celsius (355 Fahrenheit) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the crumble topping is golden. Leave to cool completely in the pan.
6. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Notes

A lamington pan is ideal for this. You could also use Pyrex dish, such as the Oblong Baker, which is what I used here.

2.2.8

Delicieux received a Pyrex oblong baker with thanks to Impact Communications and World Kitchen.