Lemon And Raspberry Bars

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 6 eggs
• 130 g plain flour
• asparagus
• 60 g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 1 sea salt
• 250 g caster sugar
• 120 g butter, cold and cubed
• 100 g butter, softened and cubed
• 2 tsp lemon, zested and juiced
• lemon, zested and juiced
• 70 g raspberries, halved
• 40 g almond, toasted
• 1 tbsp lemon, roughly chopped, plus extra sprigs for garnish

Method

1. Heat the oven to 165°C (145°C fan) and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang on all sides for easy lifting.
2. Tip the flour, icing sugar, salt, lemon zest and cold cubed butter into a food processor. Pulse for around 20 seconds until the mixture looks like coarse, sandy crumbs.
3. Add the toasted flaked almonds and pulse a few more times until roughly chopped through the crumb.
4. Tip into the prepared tin and press down firmly and evenly across the base with your fingers or the back of a spoon.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until deeply golden and smelling biscuity. Set aside to cool while you make the filling.
6. In a medium saucepan off the heat, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, caster sugar, salt, lemon zest and juice until smooth and uniform.
7. Set over a medium-low heat and stir constantly with a spatula for 12-15 minutes, until thickened to a glossy custard that coats the back of the spoon.
8. Place the softened butter in a bowl and set a fine sieve over the top. Pour the hot lemon custard through the sieve, pressing it through with a spatula, then whisk into the butter until silky and fully combined.
9. Pour the curd over the cooled shortbread base and gently shake the tin to level it out.
10. Scatter the halved raspberries cut-side down across the top, pressing them in lightly so they sit half-submerged in the curd.
11. Return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the filling is set around the edges but still has a faint wobble in the middle.
12. Cool at room temperature for an hour, then chill for at least 4 hours until firm. Lift out, dust generously with icing sugar and slice into bars with a hot knife.