Sunshine

On a blustery, miserable, dark, cold, rainy Sunday, I did not want to leave the house. Oh yes, I know that I extolled the virtues of fall a little while ago, declaring it to be my favorite season. And it still is….well, the sunny days are. Rainy days in the fall are a whole other story. Holed up in my apartment, drinking tea under a warm blanket and struggling with writer’s block, I couldn’t help but crave a teeny, tiny bit of sunshine.

So I did what any normal person would do: I made lemon squares.

H is the queen of lemon squares – in our tiny Kingston apartment she would whip up those bad boys like there was nothing to it; her lemon squares were a delight, and would inevitably disappear before the night was over. But in light of her great skill, I had never tried my had at lemon squares, so on that blustery, miserable, dark, cold and rainy Sunday, I thought, why not now?

This recipe for lemon squares is exquisitely simple and the results are divine. The crunchy shortbread is barely sweetened with sugar and supports a lemony topping that is quite tangy and not overly sweet, with a lovely, bright yellow hue. Topped with a dusting of icing sugar and sliced into dainty little bars, it’s like summer is already here! Mojitos, anyone?

Very Tangy Lemon Bars 2.0

From “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-mouth Cookies” by Alice Medrich

Ingredients

For the crust:

-       7 tbsp unsalted better, melted

-       2 tbsp sugar

-       ¾ tsp pure vanilla extract

-       ¼ tsp salt

-       1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

For the topping:

-       1 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar

-       2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

-       3 large eggs

-       1 ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest (I omitted this because I didn’t have fresh lemons on hand)

-       ½ cup lemon juice

-       powdered sugar, for dusting

1.     Line the sides and the bottom of an 8 x 8 metal baking pan with aluminum foil.

2.     Preheat oven to 350F and reposition a rack to the lower third of the oven.

To make the crust:

3.     Combine melted butter, sugar, vanilla and salt, and mix in flour until just incorporated. Press dough evenly and firmly over the bottom of the pan.

4.     Bake for 25-30 min, or until crust is fully baked, well browed at the edges, and golden brown in the middle.

To make the topping:

5.     While the crust is baking stir together the sugar and flour in a large bowl and until well mixed. Whisk in the eggs, and stir in lemon zest and juice.

6.     When Crust is ready, lower the oven temperature to 300F. Slide the rack with the pan out and pour the filling onto the hot crust.

7.     Bake for an additional 20-25 min or longer, until the topping barely jiggles in the center when the pan is tapped. Set on a rack to cool completely in the pan.

8.     When cool, lift the foil liner and transfer the bars to a cutting board. If the surface is covered with a thin layer of moist foam, you can blot it gently by laying a square of paper towel on the surface and gently sweeping your fingers over it to absorb excess moisture.

9.     Using a long, sharp knife dipped in hot water, cut into approximately 16 bars. Sift powdered sugar over the top just before serving.