An elegant summer treat, these dreamy no bake blackberry bars are infused with fresh berry sweetness swirled with a velvety creamy filling.
I love watching TV while folding clothes. Since our dryer broke and we had to wait for a new one to be delivered and installed, I had quite a few loads to go through. I needed to find a movie to keep my mind away from the clothes.
Browsing the channels I found a romantic movie. Two people met online and later decided to meet in real life. At first he didn’t seem the guy she thought he might be, but just like in other romantic movies the longer they spend together the more they started to enjoy each other’s company. She was an amazing cook, he was a photographer.
Somehow, I don’t know how, while watching the movie my mind traveled in time, years ago when I met Mr.R for the first time. The overcrowded hotel we both stayed at, the little Egyptian restaurant at the end of the street and the Starbucks I stopped daily to get my coffee intake.
My mind skipped a few years until the summer Mr. R came to visit me in Romania. One evening we stopped at a local coffee shop and enjoyed one of the classic Romanian desserts – no bake fruit cake
The following day I gathered all the ingredients and made the classic cake in a bar form with a very little adaptation from my mom’s recipe.
To make these no bake blackberry bars, you need just a handful of ingredients.
Since I didn’t have any lady fingers on hand, I made the crust from graham crackers crumbs and melted butter.
For the filling, you’ll need milk, sugar, gelatin, heavy cream and egg yolks and of course fresh blackberries. If you do not have any blackberries on hand, you can use any fresh berries you have. I made them again for 4th of July using strawberries
Since these blackberries bars require no baking and yet, eggs are listed as an ingredient, it’s very important to use pasteurized eggs. I love Safest Choice™ Pasteurized Eggs and I highly recommend them for this recipe.
Check their store locator feature on the website to see what grocery stores in your area carry them.
To make the filling you’ll need a candy thermometer, just like for these lemon bars. In a small saucepan mix milk, sugar and eggs and cook over low heat until the mixture reaches 180F.
Keep on eye on the mixture, it only takes about 3-5 minutes to foam and increase in volume and reach the 180F. Remove from the heat and let cool while the gelatin dissolves.
In a clean bowl, whip the cream until firm peaks form.
Stir the gelatin, and heavy cream in the egg mixture and pour in the prepared pan. Refrigerate for few hours and enjoy.
Yes, these no bake bars need a little bit of patience and you’ll end up with a couple of dirty dishes, but they are worth it.
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Roxana
these look seriously delicious.. love that they are no bake. definitely a recipe i will be trying. thanks!
Those look gorgeous! Love no-bake desserts. Looks like a creamy summer treat!
This looks to die for. I’m thinking cherries or blueberries. Mostly because that is what I have on hand. Thanks for the recipe! Pinned!
These look SOOOO yummy! I can’t wait to share them tomorrow with my favorite posts this week at http://www.makingitinthemountains.com!
Getting ready to do some baking with my fresh blackberries. Straight from the backyard to my lips. But I”ve got to same some for baking 🙂
These look delish. Pinning.
Gorgeous bars, Roxana! I love the blackberries!
Will the cooking time of the egg mixture still require a pasteurized egg yolk , or will it cook long enough to eliminate the threat of salmonella ? Thank you for your reply ! Your dessert looks so delicious ! Can’t wait to make it. If it still requires pasteurized egg yolks, I will have to try to locate someone who sells them.
Hi Liz,
Technically the egg is cooked when the temperature reaches 160F and for this recipe you need to cook the egg mixture until it reaches 180F. In theory, the egg yolks are cooked.
Keeping salmonella in mind, I choose pasteurized eggs. It’s better to be safe than sorry, right?
Here’s the link to safest choice website and you can check what stores sell them. I get mine from Safeway.
http://www.safeeggs.com/store-locator
If you have a Whole Foods close by, they have pasteurized eggs from other brands.
Please let me know if you have other questions. Happy to help.
Roxana
It looks like it would take more than 2 tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs to make 15 bars…..and also has anyone really tried this …just because it looks good don’t mean it taste good….I would like some comments on taste and not looks
Hi Linda,
Yes, indeed you’ll need more than just 2 tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs. You’ll need 1 cup of crumbs to make the crust.
The additional 2 tablespoons are sprinkled on top of the bars. Of course, if you want, you can add more or not add any.
These look wonderful ! Thanks for another great recipe!
Wow these look fantastic! I love no-bake desserts!
I love watching romantic movies like that and love that it made you remember when you meet your man! so sweet!! I LOVE these no bake blackberry bars!! delicious and perfect for summer!!
these are just stunning!
These bars look amazing Roxana and I’m sure they taste delicious too!
these look so good, your a talented baker
Oh my, these look delightful! Pinning 🙂
These bars came out just gorgeous! Love blackberries!
I have never made a recipe quite like this before. Thanks for sharing it. I have shared on G+.
This looks delicious! I would love for you share it on my Tasty Tuesday recipe link up here! Everything gets pinned and I would love to have you!
Oh Wow! This looks so so so good! Saying hello from The best of the Weekend and this just might be it!
Cathy
Beautiful pictures!
Wow this looks amazing! I would love it if you joined and contribute your awesome posts at my link party at City of Creative Dreams, starts on Fridays 😀 Hope to see you there at City of Creative Dreams Link Party.
I have made the egg yolk mixture twice now and it did not triple in volume at all. It did get to 180*. Not sure what the problem is but it’s a fail. I will try to complete the recipe with what I have and see what happens.
Hi Eileen,
So sorry to hear you are not satisfied.
When the egg mixture reaches 180F it should foam so much it’s almost tripled in volume. Once it cools down the volume is reduced to normal.
Please let me know how it turned out.
My egg mixture didn’t foam either, it didn’t really increase in volume at all but stayed pretty much the same throughout the cooking time but I went ahead and completed the recipe and it worked out very nicely. I shared the no bake blackberry bars with several other people and everyone enjoyed them.
Really can’t wait to get these on my table and in my mouth!
I’d like to use my raspberries and add some lemon……………suggestions?
Hi Andrea,
yes, you can use raspberries or any other berries and add some lemon zest. I would not suggest adding lemon juice.
Roxana
These look amazing, so I tried them today but the custard mixture didn’t firm up. The ingredients listed 1 package of gelatin. Do you mean the whole box (all four packets) or just one packet? I’d love to try the recipe again.
Hi Jackie,
I’m sorry to hear you had troubles with this recipe. It’s one of my favorite summer treat and never had a problem with the filling.
Like I mentioned in the recipe, I only use 1 envelope, not the entire package.
The most important step in this recipe is to cook the eggs until they reach 180F and the mixture is thickened.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have other questions,
Roxana
Can you freeze these bars, and if so, how long can they be kept for? Thanks, in advance!
Hi Lauren,
I have not tried to freeze these bars, but my suggestion would be not to. I fear once you thaw them, the berries become mushy and don’t hold their share too well inside the bars.
If you end up freezing them, please come back and let us know how it turned out.
Roxana