Raspberry Lime Rickey Bars Are the Dessert of the Summer

Summers growing up in Maine were exactly like you'd imagine but with less Stephen King: camping at Moosehead Lake, visiting grandparents Downeast for a lobster dinner, frigid beach swimming, and raspberry lime rickeys.

The refreshing soda would cool you down, no matter the August heatwave. I didn't grow up with old-fashioned drug stores and soda fountains, but we always found them at mom-and-pop shops and diners on our way to the next adventure.

As a baker, whenever I find something delicious I cannot help but wonder how I can make it into a dessert. I set to work on creating a bar with the optimum balance of raspberry to lime (with emphasis on the lime). The sweet-tart raspberry adds fruitiness without taking away too much zing from the lime. Served chilled like the soda, they're refreshingly tart and tempt me for a refill. 

What Is a Raspberry Lime Rickey?

The raspberry lime rickey underwent a few transformations to get to the soda we know now.

It was originally a simple cocktail made with bourbon, lemon, and seltzer popularly attributed to politician Joe Rickey in the 1880s. It quickly evolved, switching to gin and lime. 

Later, during prohibition, it transformed again into a mocktail, as the bite from the bitter lime made it taste similar to the alcoholic version. But even after prohibition ended, the refreshing soda won out. In New England, we sweeten it with raspberry syrup, giving it a fruity, sweet-tart flavor and a beautiful pink color.

Raspberry Lime Rickey In Bar Form

Raspberry lime rickeys are sweetened with syrup but still have a bright zing. I wanted to translate that into a bar with the same refreshing sweet and sour bite. I went for a bar similar to lemon bars with a shortbread crust and a raspberry lime curd filling.

The bars are loaded with lime juice and zest for a lip-smacking tart flavor. The sugar in the lime curd sweetens the bars, but not enough to fully tame the lime. I mix some raspberry jam right into the lime curd for a beautiful pink hue. A crisp and crumbly lime-scented shortbread crust provides the perfect base.

Tips and Tricks

These bars don’t require any special equipment, just mixing bowls and a whisk. There’s no separating the eggs or even cooking the lime curd on the stove. Here’s what I do to make the perfect batch each time:

• Zest the limes before slicing and juicing. You can save some of the zest for the garnish or make sure you have an extra lime to zest just before serving.
• Pour in the filling while the crust is hot. The filling will adhere better when the crust is still warm.
• After baking, I don’t notice the pulp from the lime juice, and even the raspberry seeds from the jam aren’t that noticeable. If you prefer a perfectly smooth filling, strain the lime juice through a fine-mesh sieve and use seedless raspberry jam.
• For clean slices, wait until the bars are fridge-cold. Run a sharp knife under hot water and dry it off before slicing. Wipe the knife clean and warm it up again between each cut.

Bars for Days

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Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with butter or nonstick baking spray. Line the bottom and two sides of the pan with a piece of parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang.

Zest and juice the limes:

Zest 4 of the limes with a fine grater, reserving 1 teaspoon for the crust and 1 tablespoon for the filling.

Juice the limes to yield 2/3 cup and reserve for the filling. I like to use a citrus reamer to get as much juice from each lime as possible. I don’t notice the pulp in the baked bars, but you can strain the juice through a fine-mesh sieve if you prefer.

Make the crust:

To a medium mixing bowl, add 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon of the zest, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. With the tips of your fingers, rub the lime zest into the sugar, infusing the sugar and dispersing the zest to avoid clumps of zest in the finished bars. Add 1 cup flour and whisk to combine.

Add the diced butter and use your fingertips to work the butter into the flour, squishing and flaking the butter into pea-size pieces. It should look like the dough for a crumble or streusel.

Press the dough in an even layer into the prepared pan.

Bake the crust until lightly browned around the edges, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling:

While the crust is baking, make the filling. To a large mixing bowl, add 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon zest, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. With the tips of your fingers, rub the lime zest into the sugar. Add 1/4 cup flour and whisk to combine. Add the eggs and whisk until fully combined and smooth. 

Pour in the lime juice, whisking to combine. Finally, stir in the raspberry jam.

Let the filling sit while the crust finishes baking.

Fill and bake:

When the crust is done baking, remove it to a wire rack. Stir the raspberry lime filling a few times, as it may have settled, then pour it over the hot crust.

Bake until set—the top of the bars may have browned in spots and the filling will not jiggle when the pan is gently shaken—about 30 minutes.

Chill:

Let the bars cool in the pan on a wire rack to room temperature, about 1 hour. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Slice, garnish, and serve:

Run a butter knife along the two edges without parchment paper to loosen the bars from the pan. Use the parchment paper overhang to carefully lift the bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board.

Cut the bars into squares. Coat the tops with a generous dusting of powdered sugar. Garnish each bar with a raspberry and a sprinkle of finely grated lime zest.

Store leftover bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. To stack them, add a piece of parchment paper between layers to prevent sticking.

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