San Diego Lemon Bars
I’m not a huge dessert fan if I’m being honest. But when I do feel like something sweet, its almost always something fruity, tart and not cake! One of my dear Slow Food friends has a plethora of beautiful citrus growing right now, so I jumped on the opportunity to grab some lemons from her and make lemon bars for a friends birthday! A locally grown lemon bar truly screams “San Diego” to me!
Ingredients / Equipment:
For the crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 TBSP fresh grated lemon zest
1 stick (4oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch dice
An 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking pan, lined with parchment paper
A food processor (preferred) but I used my hands
For the custard:
3 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup egg yolks (about 8 large eggs)
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch of kosher salt
1 1/3 cups fresh lemon juice (about 8 lemons
3 QT sauce pan
Foil
Fine mesh strainer
For Serving:
Powdered sugar for garnish
Instructions:
Crust:
Preheat oven to 350. Place a rack in the middle position.
Line your baking pan with a piece of parchment paper.
Combine flour, powdered sugar, salt, lemon zest and butter in the bowl of a food processor. ( I do not have a food processor so I mixed the crust by hand, but if you have a food processor, that’s the preferred method!) Pulse to form a dry but pebbly meal. Scatter the crust into the baking pan and press into an even layer.
Bake until gold and firm, about 30 minutes. I set my timer at 25 minutes to check on it and it indeed needed the full 30 minutes.
Custard:
Combine whole eggs, yolks, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a 3-quart saucepan. Slowly whisk in the lemon juice. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly but not vigorously, you don’t want to make it chunky. Stir until warm to the touch, about 3 minutes.
Increase heat to medium-low and continue cooking and stirring until thick and steaming-hot or about 170 degrees, 8 minutes or so.
Immediately strain the custard into your prepared crust and smooth out an even layer. Straining is key! This will help remove any small chunks that may have formed while cooking.
Cover it with foil and bake until smooth and firm, about 10 minutes.
Remove foil and cool to room temperature, then re-cover and refrigerate until cold and firm, about 1 hour.
To serve:
Loosen chilled custard from the sides of your pan / parchment paper. Cut into 16- two inch squares and lightly dust with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
