Strawberry Peach Basil Bars
Some ingredient combinations make people a bit skeptical when you mention them. But then, they bite into whatever it is you made and they completely forget about their doubts.
These bars definitelay have that reaction. I love basil in desserts (and cocktails), and I’ve had this combination before in these Strawberry Peach Basil Cupcakes. So, clearly, I had no doubt these bars would be amazing.
I actually started with this Blueberry Crumb Bar recipe, but I was multi-tasking while the ingredients were in the mixer, so the crumb mixture turned into a dough. No worries though, the bars still came out amazing. My favorite bites were the ones with a lot of basil and I decided the next time I make these, I’ll bump up the amount of basil in them.
One Year Ago: Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies
Four Years Ago: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Strawberry Peach Basil Bars
Yield: 24 bars
Ingredients:
For the Dough:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, cold
1 egg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
For the Filling:
3 cups peeled, diced peaches
2 cups diced strawberries
1/4 cup basil, chiffonaded
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
For the Dough: In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
For the Filling: In medium bowl, gently toss diced peaches and lemon juice together; set aside.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour over the peaches and mix gently.
Spread the filling evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the filling layer.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.
Dough recipe from AllRecipes.com, filling adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen and The First Kitchen
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I am really very terrible at frosting/decorating cake :\ This came out way better than anything I could make!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:18 pm
Ha – I’m pretty bad too. That’s why I love putting stuff on the sides. Coconut does a good job of hiding my sloppy decorating skills.
Coconut and almond, you’ve already got me reeled in 🙂 two of my favorite flavors rolled into what looks like a moist, fluffy cake. YUM
This cake looks so beautiful and the texture is perfect! I love curd as a filling between cake layers but i never knew the trick for preventing it from seeping out – thanks!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:19 pm
Yea, it’s definitely very helpful. Even more so when you ACTUALLY do it 😉
We’ve all had those cake experiences. It looks like it turned out well in the end! And it sounds delicious!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
Glad to hear I’m not the only one. I think it’s easy to get wrapped up in thinking we all need to project that all of our baking/cooking endeavors are hugely successful…
Regardless of any kitchen mishaps, this cake looks divine! Layer cakes always look so special, and the addition of fruit here makes me swooooon!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
I agree. Layer cakes always look special 🙂
Oh this looks amazing. And aren’t we all our own worst critics when we bake? I can’t tell you how many times I say something is terrible and my husband looks as me like I’m crazy.
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:21 pm
I agree. At the end of the day, it tasted delicious and no one knew about all the issues I had with the cake. I did want to keep it real on the blog and not give anyone any false sense that things are always easy for me…
I always shy away from layer cakes – yours always come out well, I need some more practice I think! Your “mistakes” are great learning points – did not know about the frosting damn, but it makes so much sense!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:23 pm
That’s why I wanted to talk about them. I definitely could have posted about this cake without mentioning any of the issues I had. I’m hoping they’ll help someone (myself included) to learn something for the next time they tackle a layer cake. Yours will definitely improve with practice. Mine surely are. I really want to make that coconut cake you just posted!
i’m always hard on myself too, but you wouldn’t know by the taste i’m sure! looks absolutely wonderful, not to mention i’m drooling over the flavor combo 🙂
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:24 pm
I agree, I think we all are. I wanted to keep it real with this post in case anyone else found it to be a difficult set of recipes…
Yum, your cake looks so delicious and I really love the sound of the blackberry lime curd!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:27 pm
Thanks!
I love coconut cake, and blackberries are my favorite fruit. Such a great idea to put them together. This cake is gorgeous! I would happily take a large slice . . . or maybe the whole thing 😉
beantownbaker — April 27th, 2013 @ 10:02 am
Then you would definitely love this cake!
Could anyone post the blackberry lime curd recipe? The link is no longer working.
Thanks!
beantownbaker — August 12th, 2013 @ 7:39 pm
Sorry about that. I updated the recipe link, but here it is as well: http://www.beantownbaker.com/2013/03/blackberry-lime-curd.html