Thursday, June 16, 2011

Lemon and Blackberry Bars

Growing up in England, I had the lovely experience of wild blackberries.   These brambles would grow everywhere and my friends and I would harvest whenever we saw them, without washing, and pop them into our mouths. In fact, they grew along the back hedge of one of the schools I attended and we'd eat them during recess, staining our hands and mouth a delightful purple.




With big, fresh blackberries showing up in the grocery store, I thought I could add these to the standard lemon bar and enjoy two favorite flavors in one bite!  The results - YUM!   The crust is flaky, the lemon bars are zesty with a blackberry surprise and then I had to top it off with a creamy cheesecake topping.   Dessert is served!

Lemon and Blackberry Bars

Crust Ingredients:
  • 1 C butter
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 2 C flour
  • 1 t salt
Lemon Ingredients:
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 1/2 C flour
  • juice of 4 lemons
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 C blackberries
Cheescake Topping Ingredients:
  • 1 pkg cream cheese, softened
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/3 C powdered sugar
  • zest of 1 lemon
Directions:   Heat over to 350 degrees.   Grease bottom of an 8x8 pan and set aside.   In a medium bowl, blend together butter, sugar, flour and saltl.   Press into pan and bake for 12 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and flour then whisk in the eggs and lemon juice.   Pour over the hot, baked crust.   Add the lemon zest and blackberries and bake for 25 minutes.   Cool.


In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.   Add the lemon juice and powdered sugar and beat until silky, about 4 minutes.   Spread this onto the cooled bars and sprinkle the lemon zest on top as a garnish.  Chill in refrigerator for about 1 hour before serving.   Chilling makes them easier to cut.  They won't last long...

9 comments:

Peggy a.k.a JUJU said...

I loved your story of how you and your friends would eat blackberries from the bushes! :)
This recipe looks delicious!

Unknown said...

Why didn't I ever know that you're from England? Yahoo for the fact that there's a cream cheese topping on these bars. That and the blackberries (which I love) put it over the top.

Stacey Rider said...

Christiane - my father was a pilot in the US Air Force and we moved every year as I grew up, but most our time was spent in England. I did go to British schools, had a British accent but then transferred to the American Schools later on. I'm certain it shaped my love of food and all the food memories I have - and oh, the blackberries!

Island Vittles said...

What a great flavour combination! Our little island gets over run with blackberries in August/Sept, so I'll keep this recipe close until then! Theresa

Buttercream Blondie said...

These bars look awesome! Love the lemon & blackberry combo, and the cheesecake topping!

Tiffany said...

What a great flavor combo!

Torviewtoronto said...

Stacey thank you for linking it to my event food palette series purple
this looks fabulous I love the way blackberries look hanging over the fence delicious sight and it is always nice when there is memories attached to our food isn't it :)

Erin said...

Oh these look creamy and delicious! What a great combination of lemon and blackberries!

Amy said...

I love this combination of blackberries and lemon! These look wonderful! Especially love the addition of the creamy topping!