Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sweet, tart for sweet hearts


My dad has a lemon tree in his backyard that’s abundant with fruit this time of year. Every winter I try to find as many ways as possible to use them. I frequently make lemon meringue pie, lemon cookies, lemon cake, and lemon sauces for fish and vegetables, but I’m especially fond of lemon bars.

If you are looking for a dessert for Valentine's Day that's not chocolate, you can stop looking. Lemon bars have a crisp buttery cookie-like crust, and a filling with enough tart to wake up your tastebuds and enough sugar to satisfy that sweet tooth. Your sweetheart will love them.

LEMON BARS

For the crust:

1/2 pound butter (2 cubes)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour

For the filling:

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


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pulse the butter, flour and powdered sugar in food processor until it is the consistency of corn meal. Pour into 9 X13 X 2 inch pan and press evenly into bottom, building a ½ inch edge on all sides.


Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool slightly 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. Remove from oven and lightly dust with confectioners' sugar. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into rectangles or triangles and lightly dust again with confectioners' sugar.

Makes approximately 25 bars.

10 comments:

  1. That may be the best photo I have ever seen of a lemon bar. It's magazine quality. . . Of course, I'm not going to be able to try any of the lemon bars because they are not on my low-carb diet. But I can almost taste them through the photos. They jump off the page. Yum

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello jvb, Thanks for the compliment and the support.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just lovely...I'll make them myself. The half pound butter, tho...oh, okay!

    Judy

    ReplyDelete
  4. SLB said... my son in laws crave lemon bars!! i am making these for them for Valentine's day!! How are you able to cut them so perfect? Did you get one of those special pans they advertise during the holidays? I can taste them by just looking at your amazing photo! Thanks calicook :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was just going to say that your lemon bars are cut perfectly. Just like on the Food Network. You are such a delicious CaliCook.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This would make a great Valentine's treat by making the lemon bars in the shape of hearts, and putting red-colored powdered sugar on top.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can't wait...!!!!!! love you mean it

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Judy thank you for the comment. If you think a half pound of butter is bad, check out the cheesecake recipe! It's even worse.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Anon and St. Valentine, I just got lucky with the knife. I wonder how you color powdered sugar red. If you know, let me know.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yum! What's the best way for someone without a food processor to make the crust?

    ReplyDelete