Luscious Lemon Bars
Cutting the lemon / the knife / leaves a little cathedral: / alcoves unguessed by the eye / that open acidulous glass / to the light; topazes / riding the droplets, altars, / aromatic facades.
– Pablo Neruda, A Lemon.
What’s more beautiful than a bright, fragrant fresh lemon? And who better to somehow capture its very essence in words than Chilean poet Pablo Neruda? His ode poem A Lemon is like a song, a paean to this miraculous fruit. Give yourself a treat and read it. And should you want to continue immersing yourself in Neruda’s gorgeous language and celebration of the essence of things, I recommend splurging on All the Odes. Reading one each morning might be a beautiful way to start your day.
Given my love of lemon and penchant for tart flavors, you will find this recipe for lemon bars extra zingy. Building on a crumbly shortbread-like crust, the filling is tart and refreshing and not overly sweet. If you find these too lemony (as if there is such a thing), you can cut down the lemon zest to 2 teaspoons, and the lemon juice to 1/2 cup.
Reality Bakes
I forgot to chill the crust before baking this time. And I had one long crack in the filling, probably due to overbaking. They tasted wonderful, though.
Luscious Lemon Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
For the filling:
- 4 eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp grated lemon zest
- Pinch of salt
- Confectioners sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- For the crust, cream together butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together the flour and salt and add to the butter/sugar mixture until just combined. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and gather it into a ball. Flatten the ball out with your hands and pat it down evenly into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan lined with parchment. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Bake crust until golden brown and firm, about 20 minutes.
- For the filling, whisk together sugar and flour. Whisk in lightly-beaten eggs. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and whisk again. Pour over the warm crust.
- Bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until filling is set and firm when lightly touched.
- Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Lift out lemon bars with parchment paper and place on a cutting board. Dust with confectioners sugar and cut into squares.
