Luscious Lemon Bars

Pucker Up Butter Cup!

As you may already know I am a lover of all things lemon.  The more tart, the better I like it.  I’m addicted and can’t get enough!  I made these bars for my father for Father’s Day instead of the traditional Butter Cream Torte or Black Forest Cake that we usually do.  I’ve been buying lemons by the bag lately and have no problem using them all up.  This recipe is an adaptation of the Contessa’s.

First things first, using my handy dandy microplane rasp I grated six medium-sized lemons.  Give them a good scrubbing first and then I like to cut off each end prior to zesting.  Zest on the finer grater or you will end up with too large pieces in your filling and it’s not the nicest thing to bite into.  If you don’t have a rasp just use a regular grater.  If you are not careful you can also create a  huge pile of knuckle skin and this is not nearly as appetizing as say a pile of lemon, orange, lime zest or a huge pile of Parmesan, garlic or ginger.  If you do not own one of these RUN don’t walk to the nearest hardware store-yes- hardware store.  It’s cheaper to buy one at the hardware store than at the kitchen store.  You can thank me later 😉

Zesting lemons …smells so good!

Now we are going to juice all the lemons.  You can use a traditional juicer, a reamer, or my favourite; what I refer to as the lemon annihilator.  Why do I prefer this one over the others?  Truth?  Laziness!  You put the lemon  half in, squeeze all the juice out and the seeds stay put!  What, I ask, is not to love about that 😉

You can squeeze all that lovely juice out right over your measuring cup.  You can see why I refer to it as the annihilator!  There is nothing left of them!

Now let’s prepare the base.  It’s super simple, basically just a short bread.  It is quite soft and sticky so if you don’t want your hands to stick just flour them or use the back of a floured measuring cup like I did.  You can also use surgical gloves which I often have in the kitchen for these situations or skinning chicken etc.

Ready for the oven

Push the base half way up the sides of the dish and put it in the freezer or fridge for about 10 minutes then pop in the oven and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.  Remove and let cool.

While this is cooking we can make our filling.  Now don’t panic when you see your filling.  It is very liquid in texture like soup but it will thicken in the oven.  You may want to place your pan on a cookie sheet in case it flows over.  I actually ended up adding a little more flour.  It all depends on how you like your lemon filling.  The first day it was creamy and lovely and the second day it was almost like a thick lemon curd so I’m not sure if it was the humidity or because I didn’t cover it overnight (I was afraid it would get too wet and ruin the crust) or my addition of flour but it still tasted delicious it was just thicker in texture.

Lemon Squares

It must have been good because my sister had seconds and my father had thirds!  As you can see in the photo, the perimeter of my crust was quite golden.  If you do not like this just cut it off all the way around.  I personally think it’s the best part so those spoils go to the chef! 😉

TIPS

You could make this with limes and a ginger cookie crust with a toasted coconut top if that floats your boat.

Crust:

1/2 pound or 1 cup of butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar or icing sugar
2 cups flour (all-purpose or cake & pastry) or half rice flour/half regular flour
1/8 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)

Filling:

6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar (I only put 2 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 large to 6 medium lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice  (4 large to 6 medium lemons)
1 cup flour
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light . Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough directly into pan you are going to bake it in. You don’t need to butter it as it is so short it will not stick at all.  Flatten the dough with floured hands or the back of floured measuring cup and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, (I used a smaller size as I like a thicker crust) building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into bars,rectangles, squares or triangles and dust with confectioners’ icing sugar after they have completely cooled.   You could skip this step if you wanted to but the sweetness is a nice contrast against the tartness of the lemon.

I love to hear from you so please let me know how your lemon squares turned out.  Just be prepared to make them from now on because anyone with whom you share them will always want you to bring them to every occasion.  Enjoy!

Not just another Lemon Pound Cake!

I love lemons! Anything citrus and anything sour really.  Lemons are for far more than just keeping scurvy at bay 😉  With their high content of vitamin C, they are an extremely effective antioxidant that is known to boost the immune system and protect the body from disease and the effects of aging.  Imagine – you really can have your cake and eat it too!  I like it spritzed over fish and a slice of lemon and lime is always refreshing when added to a glass of water. Their flavour brightens so many dishes and I always zest them prior to using them for anything and throw that zest in the freezer and keep it to use in my baking.  I always give them a good scrub under water prior to zesting them.

I look for smooth skinned lemons without too many discoloured patches and that are bright yellow in colour.  I like to keep mine on the counter in my fruit bowl but if you aren’t going to use them within two weeks they are best kept in the crisper drawer (for up to six weeks).  Give them a good roll back and forth on the counter before juicing them to ensure you get the maximum amount of juice out of them.

I am completely smitten with this cake!  This pound cake is definitely for lemon lovers only!  It is one of my absolute go to recipes.  This pound cake is lighter in texture than the classic pound cake and has a lovely texture.   It is somewhat dense and so moist and lemony… great for dessert or with tea or coffee and a good book and, I may have had it for breakfast on more than several occasions.  You can put a lemon glaze on it, leave it plain or just kiss it with a dusting of confectioner’s suagr.  The best part is, it keeps well in the freezer for months (unadorned) and it actually tastes better on the second and third day.  It’s like a good gumbo, the flavours need time to meld and develop.

Oh and you see how my cake has a lovely golden crust and buttery lemon coloured body….well sometimes no matter what,  a bit of cake sticks to the tin… but you can always hide those little imperfections with a drizzle of icing or glaze or like me, go for the rustic look.   I’ll be lucky if this cake makes it to a second or third day around here!  The yummo factor is directly correlated to the time it sits around factor 😉

This would be equally delicious if you substituted the lemon for lime, orange or even grapefruit.  Bake yourself up a Lemon Lover’s Pound Cake and share it with people you love.   Let me know how it goes, I’d love to hear from you!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 3 cups white sugar (or less but not less than two as it will change the texture)
• 6 eggs at room temperature
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice or the juice of a big lemon
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel (or more if you really like it like me)
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract (do NOT add more of this as it will make the cake bitter)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour or cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream or plain yogurt (full fat regular Balkan Style or Greek)

ICING (optional)

• 1/4 cup sour cream (full fat or full fat yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened (I skip the butter)
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ or icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons zested or grated lemon peel

For icing, in a small mixing bowl, beat the sour cream and butter until blended.  Gradually add confectioners’ sugar. If not using butter just beat the sour cream & icing.  Beat in lemon juice and peel. Drizzle over the cake. Store in the refrigerator.

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. 

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in lemon juice, peel and extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Beat just until combined.

Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan.  Give it a good tap or two on the counter just to make sure there aren’t any air bubbles in the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. I always turn the cake around in the oven at the halfway mark and then I check it again at the 3/4 time mark.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.  If your cake starts to crack as mine did (sometimes it’s because the oven is too hot) no worries as you will be turning it upside down anyway.  No one will ever know or care 😉

I do not have this recipe in metric but I do have a fabulous conversion link for you should you happen to want to convert this or any other recipe.

For a pretty garnish you can slice strawberries as I did and fan them out and set them on the plate beside the cake or atop the cake prior to cutting.

The final picture doesn’t show it though because they looked and smelled so good I ate them right away! lol  And yes, they were THAT big!