July Cookie Carnival...Strawberry Almond Bars

The original recipe sent to me from Kate at the Clean Plate Club was Blackberry Almond Bars, from Williams-Sonoma. I wanted to follow the recipe, but Blackberries were supremely expensive. They were priced at $3.50 for half a pint! The recipe called for 2 full pints, and that was going to be one cookie that would be WAY too rich for my blood. I opted for strawberries, since I had a bunch in the freezer and I thought that they would be a tasty combo with the almonds.

BlackBerry Almond Bars
(williams-sonoma)

INGREDIENTS:
For the shortbread:
* 12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup ground toasted almonds
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 tsp. salt

For the blackberry curd:

* 2 pints blackberries
* 4 eggs
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* Pinch of salt
* 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
* 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch cake pan.

To make the shortbread, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, flour, almonds, granulated sugar and salt and process until small lumps form. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom. Bake until the shortbread is golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Meanwhile, make the blackberry curd: In a food processor or blender, puree the blackberries until smooth. Pass the puree through a chinois set over a bowl, using a pestle to press on the solids and extract as much juice as possible; discard the solids. You should have about 3/4 cup juice.

In the top pan of a double boiler or in a non-reactive saucepan, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until blended. Then whisk in the blackberry juice, salt and lemon juice. Set the top pan over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan, or set the saucepan over medium-low heat. (If using a saucepan, take care not to heat the mixture too quickly.) Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the mixture is warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Begin adding the butter a little at a time, stirring each addition until blended before adding more. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until a finger drawn across the back of the spatula leaves a path, 8 to 10 minutes more. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Pass the curd through the chinois set over a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Whisk to blend, then pour the curd over the shortbread, spreading it evenly to the edges.

Bake until the curd is set, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into individual bars, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust the bars with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
Makes 20 bars.

The only almonds I had was an almost full jar of Blue Diamond Roasted Almonds with a Brown sugar and Cinnamon Sugar coating on them. I tossed them in the food processor and ground them up, adding them to my base.

After pureeing the strawberries, the most challenging section of making this cookie began...straining out the seeds of the berries. What a PITA!! I do not own a chinois, so I used a mesh strainer. And there I stood, swirling around pureed strawberries, talking (a/k/a cursing) to the pulverized fruit, scraping the strainer after swirling around the mess inside of it. Eventually, my patience paid off and I was rewarded with 1 full cup of relatively seed free pureed strawberries.

I think I under-baked both the base and the curd when it went back into the oven. When the base originally came out of the oven, I thought it looked a little light and was going to put it back in for a few more minutes, but I got sidetracked by something or someone and I turned the oven off. I didn't really give it another thought until later in the afternoon, when I made the curd.
The eggs and the sugar of the curd......after the addition of the strawberry puree and everything else...
...just before hitting the oven...
...and then finally, after their time in the oven.
They don't really look much different, do they? Again, I thought for a moment about putting them back in the oven, but I was getting hot and tired, so I left them alone. The curd seemed pretty well set to me, and I was sure that they would be fine.

I wasn't serving them up until today, for some friends who had come to swim in this 95 degree weather we are having today, so I stuck them in the fridge over night.

They were a little soft when I put them on a plate, but after sitting out in the heat for a few minutes, they were really soft, almost a little mushy. They were still very good, though. I did forget to sprinkle them with powdered sugar, but that's not a big deal.

I still have almost a full pan of them in the fridge, and we will break them out again tomorrow, when more friends come over to try to relax in the heat with us.

Overall, they were worth the effort, and I am happy and proud of myself for making them. Give them a try and I'm sure you won't be sorry!