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Stephanie Eddy/The Globe and Mail

What makes pink lemonade pink?

In many cases, it's a couple drops of food colouring (disappointing, but true). Luckily, these bars employ a much more delicious method by using puréed strawberries to achieve that rosy hue.

They bake up sweet and tangy, basically summertime in bar form.

Servings: One 9-by-13-inch pan

Ready Time: 60 min.

Crust

1 3/4 cup (240g) flour

2/3 cup (75g) icing sugar

3 tbsp corn starch

½ tsp salt

3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, chilled

Filling

8-9 (250 g) large strawberries

1 1/4 cup (280 g) sugar

1 cup lemon juice

4 eggs

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Zest of one lemon

Method

Line a 9-by-13-inch pan with tinfoil or parchment paper, allowing the paper to hang over the edges of the pan for easy removal of the bars. Lightly grease the paper/tinfoil and set aside.

Make the crust: In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, corn starch and salt. Pulse to combine. Cut the butter into one-inch cubes and add to the food processor. Pulse until the pieces of butter are smaller than peas. The mixture will look dry.

Dump the mixture into the prepared 9-by-13-inch pan and firmly press into an even layer with a 1/4 inch crust around the edges. Place the pan the in the fridge to chill.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Once the oven is ready, bake the crust for 18 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown.

While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. It is important to have the filling ready to add while the crust is still hot to prevent the crust from shrinking as it cools, which can cause the filling to leak down the sides.

In a blender, purée the strawberries until smooth. Measure out 2/3 cup of the purée and place it back in the blender (save any remaining purée to serve over yogurt or granola). Add the sugar and lemon juice and blend till smooth. Add the eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest and blend until completely combined and slightly lighter in colour.

Remove the crust from the oven and place on an even surface. Carefully pour the filling evenly over the hot crust, and place back in the 350 F oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until the filling has set.

Allow the bars to cool completely at room temperature. Either slice and serve at room temperature, or chill in the fridge and serve cold. Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to five days.

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