Strawberries and cream bars

These are another of the bakes I made for our bank holiday barbecue (still 2 more to go!) and were chosen because no British summer event is really complete without strawberries cream in one form or another.

I had the original recipe for these from Cookies and Cups bookmarked on Pinterest for ages, so this seemed like the perfect occasion to give them a go before the strawberry season sadly comes to an end.

I changed the recipe up a bit because I didn’t want to use a boxed cake mix, and ended up using the same recipe for the base and crumb that I used as the base for my Millionaire’s Shortbread so I could make both at once.

It worked pretty well and the bars turned out great – they tasted just like strawberry cheesecake, looked really pretty, and were even relatively low calorie – 160 if you cut them into 12 pieces.

They would also work well with other fruits – I’m particularly thinking blueberry – so may have to try a few more versions…

Strawberries and cream bars (adapted from Cookies and Cups)

• 165g flour
• 130g butter
• 55g caster sugar
• 200g strawberries, washed, hulled and chopped
• 1 egg
• 200g cream cheese
• 65g caster sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract

For the base/crumb, rub the butter into the flour to create a breadcrumb-like mix, then stir in the sugar. Press about 2/3 of this into the base of an 8×8″ square tin, lined with baking paper, and bake at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until starting to turn golden.

Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla together until smooth. When the base is done, pour the cream cheese mixture on top, scatter the chopped strawberries all over, and finish by sprinkling clumps of the rest of the crumb mixture on top.

Return to the oven for another 30-40 minutes, until the cream cheese mixture is set and the crumb is golden. Leave to cool before slicing into bars, and serve chilled.