If you are in need of some baking inspiration you’ve come to the right place.
Things are heating up in the kitchen AND in iVillage’s Food Blogger Idol competition.
After receiving hundreds of amazing and delicious entries from some extremely talented home cooks, and after deliberating for many hours, we managed to narrow the list down to the five. And now? It’s time to vote. So let’s meet our finalists…
Zara Avila
Hi! My name is Zara and I am a newlywed who loves to bake! I bake every day, making all of our own bread, plus lots of yummy treats. I have chosen a "Raspberry Lemonade Bars" recipe that I tweaked from a plain "Lemon Bars" recipe I tore out of a magazine sitting in the dentist's waiting room. Don't tell anyone that though! I don't want my dentist chasing me about with his drill the next time I go for a checkup! Raspberry Lemonade Bars are delicious and have the added bonus of being vibrantly hot pink - an absolutely eye-catching impressive dessert for any party or special occasion (and really, who amongst us DOESN'T love hot-pink food?)! And with the Pampas Pastry already made for you, they are soooo easy to make, even the most culinary challenged amongst us could make them! So let's get baking!
Raspberry Lemonade Bars
Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by PAMPAS Pastry. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.
Ingredients
- 1 pack of PAMPAS shortcrust pastry
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3 egg whites
- 1 whole egg
- 2/3 cup lemon juice (fresh is best, but bottle is fine too!)
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2/3 cup plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1-2 cups fresh raspberries (frozen will do in a pinch though!)
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar
Method
Step One.
Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius, and spray some oil into a baking tin (mine is 34cm by 24cm). Place one sheet of Pampas shortcrust pastry into the tin, and press down so that there is a 1cm edge of pastry around the sides. Cut a second piece of Pampas shortcrust pastry to fit in the remaining space in the tin. You don't have to be too precise with your cutting!
Step Two.
Press down the second sheet of pastry, then, with a fork gently press where two sheets meet together (I call this the"smooshing" stage, and it is strangely therapeutic!). You may also have found that the pastry snapped in places when you were placing the pastry into the tin - smoosh these bits together too so that there are no gaps for the liquid to spill out of later!) Then, gently score your pastry with the fork, creating little grooves.
Step Three.
Place your pastry she'll in oven until all of the pastry is lightly baked - between 5 and 10 minutes, depending on your oven.
Step Four.
Meanwhile, in a mixer, combine all of the ingredients aside from the raspberries. Whisk until combined.
Step Five.
Take your pastry out of the oven and let it cool.
Step Six.
Place your raspberries into a sieve and press down with a spoon, smooshing out all the juices but leaving the pulp and seeds behind.
Step Seven.
Place raspberry juices into the lemon mixture and whisk until combined. The mixture will be very runny and you might be a bit nervous at this part, but trust me!
Step Eight.
Pour the mix carefully into your pastry shell, trying your absolute best to not spill it or overfill!
Step Nine.
Place in oven to bake until set (this should take 15-20 minutes depending on your oven!).
Step Ten.
Allow to cool before cutting into squares. Dust lightly with icing sugar.
Step Eleven.
Prepare yourself for lots of 'oohs' and 'ahhs'.
If you'd like to vote for Zara to be iVillage's new Food Blogger, you can vote by clicking HERE.
To see the delicious process in full, click through the gallery.
For all the Food Blogger Idol updates visit www.themotherish.com/food-blogger-idol
Whether you’re still finding your feet in the kitchen or you’re a self-confessed master chef, PAMPAS’ range of pre-rolled pastry sheets and shells are your blank canvas to create. Be it the humble family pie or pastry wrapped asparagus sticks for entertaining, PAMPAS provides you an easy way to create something new or simply make something that little bit better; so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying delicious meals with those you love.