Raspberry Crumb bars

An easy and delicious recipe. Joanne Chang adds her own twist to the shortbread base by using part cake flour and adding egg yolks and vanilla, resulting in a tender, flavourful crust that holds together when sliced.

I must admit that I didn't follow the instructions for forming the base: instead of chilling the dough and later rolling it into a 9"x13" rectangle, I pressed the dough into a 9"x13" pan and chilled before baking. This method worked well for me. I did, however, freeze the portion of dough reserved for the crumb topping as per the recipe and grated it, sprinkling the flakes on top of the filling. This allowed for a really even distribution of the topping and ensured that none of it fell off during slicing. I cut 48 -not 9(!)- bars from this recipe.

This is an excellent, basic recipe - one I will return to often.