Not surprisingly, I am still making my way through the 5 lb. bag of lemons I bought at Costco recently... So even though I briefly entertained the idea of trying out a new gingerbread recipe last night, I made lemon bars instead. My standard recipe is "The Ultimate Lemon Butter Bar" from Rose's Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I first found this recipe reprinted on epicurious.com, and I liked it so much that I went out and bought Beranbaum's book as a result.
Beranbaum's commentary that accompanies the recipe notes that baking the crust before the curd topping is added solves the problem of a soggy crust that is often encountered with lemon bars. I agree; the crust never comes out soggy. However, I do think that the ratio of crust to curd is not optimal the way the recipe is written (too much crust to not enough curd). I usually make 1.5 batches of crust and a double batch of curd in a 9 x 13-inch pan of bars. The other thing I consistently find when I make this recipe is that I can never make the curd in 6 minutes as outlined in the recipe (and I do use a candy thermometer). It usually takes me essentially the entire time the crust is baking (about 30 minutes) to make the curd, so I always make sure to have all the curd components ready so that I can start it right away as soon as I put the crust in the oven.
The resulting bar is very puckery (I always add some extra lemon zest to the curd), with a very firmly-set topping (on a non-soggy crust), and it cuts beautifully.
Only a few more lemons to go!
Recipe: The Ultimate Lemon Butter Bar from Rose's Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum, reprinted on epicurious.com
Beranbaum's commentary that accompanies the recipe notes that baking the crust before the curd topping is added solves the problem of a soggy crust that is often encountered with lemon bars. I agree; the crust never comes out soggy. However, I do think that the ratio of crust to curd is not optimal the way the recipe is written (too much crust to not enough curd). I usually make 1.5 batches of crust and a double batch of curd in a 9 x 13-inch pan of bars. The other thing I consistently find when I make this recipe is that I can never make the curd in 6 minutes as outlined in the recipe (and I do use a candy thermometer). It usually takes me essentially the entire time the crust is baking (about 30 minutes) to make the curd, so I always make sure to have all the curd components ready so that I can start it right away as soon as I put the crust in the oven.The resulting bar is very puckery (I always add some extra lemon zest to the curd), with a very firmly-set topping (on a non-soggy crust), and it cuts beautifully.
Only a few more lemons to go!
Recipe: The Ultimate Lemon Butter Bar from Rose's Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum, reprinted on epicurious.com
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