Pucker Your Lips Up Lemon Bars

Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe:

Pucker Your Lips Up Lemon Bars

Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

I prefer sour over sweet. So these Lemon Bars might just be the most lemony ones you would ever have. 

I have had requests to make lemon tarts, lemon meringue pies, lemon bars... I am surrounded by people who are into lemon everything! I have always said no. Too much work. It's a 2-step bake. Too tedious for my lazy style of baking.

Then why was I furiously baking 3 trays of these Lemon Bars within a span of 5 days? I was caught between a rock and a hard place. 

It started with a trip to the supermarket. I saw bags of organic lemons in the chiller. "Ooh, I have always wanted to make candied lemon peel. Now would be the right time with these organic lemons." I grabbed two 2 lb (~2 kg) bags. Into the shopping cart and home it went.

The candied lemon peel turned out rather nicely. I was meticulous about removing every area of white pith. So it is really not so much candied lemon peel but strips of candied lemon zest. The candied lemon zest makes the most dizzying smelling and tasting lemon sugar! I want to drench myself in the scent! And the hot lemon tea it makes? Sublime.

Although I was smug with my stash of candied lemon peel, I now had these bald looking lemons. It was time to give in to those requests to make Lemon Bars. 

What was I thinking? Obviously, I was not. Facing that big daunting bowl piled high with bald lemons must have momentarily clouded my thinking. Not only do I not like 2-step bakes, Lemon Bars are not diet food and to get my cookie crumb recipe right I had to bake 3 trays! 

I have little self-control when I am staring at beautiful, sunny, glossy yellow Lemon Bars. They just need to be popped into my mouth. For tasting purposes I tell myself. I am such a weakling.
PUCKER YOUR LIPS UP LEMON BARS                              

Prep:	15 minutes
Inactive: Cook:	Chill dough at least 2 hours before baking. Cookie base 15 - 20 minutes. Lemon topping 15 - 20 minutes.
Level:	Medium
Serves:	Depends on how large you slice them.  Bakes a 13" x 9" (23cm x 33cm) tray.
Oven Temperature:	(350F)(175C) to bake cookie base Reduce to (320F)(160C) to bake lemon topping
Can recipe be doubled?	No
Make ahead?	Prepare the cookie base at least 2 hours and up to 2 days before. Lemon topping can be made a day ahead. Once baked, these keep well refrigerated for at least 3 days.

Just the ingredients For the cookie base 5.29 oz (150 g) unsalted butter  2.11 oz (60 g) caster sugar 1/2 egg yolk  1 teaspoons vanilla extract  6.34 oz  (180 g) all-purpose/plain flour + 1 Tablespoon (for flouring) 1 Tablespoons rice flour  1 Tablespoon candied lemon peel Not the wet, sticky syrup kind but those similar to the ones I had made (refer to photograph in preface).  OR 1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest 1/4 teaspoon salt For the lemon topping 4 eggs + 1 yolk + 1/2 yolk (from the cookie base) 1 and 1/4 cups (8.81oz)(250g) caster sugar 1 Tablespoon candied lemon peel Not the wet, sticky syrup kind but those similar to the ones I had made (refer to photograph in preface).  OR 1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest 2/3 cup lemon juice 3 Tablespoons all-purpose/plain flour 2 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest 1/8 salt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 tablespoons milk 1 T evaporated milk

Ingredients

For the cookie base

5.29 oz (150 g) unsalted butter 

2.11 oz (60 g) caster sugar

1/2 egg yolk 
Use the other half in the lemon topping. 

1 teaspoons vanilla extract 

6.34 oz  (180 g) all-purpose/plain flour + 1 Tablespoon (for flouring)
1 Tablespoons rice flour 
1 Tablespoon candied lemon peel
Not the wet, sticky syrup kind but those similar to the ones I had made (refer to photograph in preface). 
OR
1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the lemon topping

4 eggs + 1 yolk + 1/2 yolk (from the cookie base)

1 and 1/4 cups (8.81oz)(250g) sugar
1 Tablespoon candied lemon peel
Not the wet, sticky syrup kind but those similar to the ones I had made (refer to photograph in preface). 
OR
1 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

2/3 cup lemon juice

3 Tablespoons all-purpose/plain flour

2 and 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/8 salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons milk

1 T evaporated milk

Method

Making the cookie base

Add the butter to the mixer bowl and let it soften to room temperature. 

If you are using candied lemon peel, place the all-purpose/plain flour, rice flour, candied lemon peel and salt into a food processor. Process until the candied lemon peel  have been blitz into tiny, tiny bits and the dry mix smell heavenly. Set aside.

If you are using lemon zest, simply mix the flours, zest and salt together.

Add sugar to the soften butter. Attach the whisk attachment and turn on the mixer to medium high speed and whisk until pale, light and creamy. 

Turn speed down to medium, add the 1/2 egg yolk and vanilla extract. 

Let the mixer run for 1 minute. Turn off the mixer, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Turn on the mixer and let it run at medium for 30 seconds to incorporate everything well. 

Stop the machine, remove, scrape the bowl with a spatula to make sure batter is well mixed. Don't over work it, do this in 5 - 10 seconds.

Add in the dry mix all at once. With a spatula, use slashing motions to incorporate the dry mix in. It should take about 1 minute.  Do not over mix or your cookie base might not be as light.

If the dough looks too sticky, add 1 Tablespoon of all-purpose/plain flour at a time. Go slow on the flour. The final dough will be very slightly tacky. 

I use a 13" x 9" (23cm x 33cm) nonstick baking pan with at least a 1" (2.5cm) depth.

If you are using anything other than a nonstick baking pan, butter the bottom and sides of it well.

If you want to take the entire bake off the baking pan in one piece then line your baking vessel with a large sheet of parchment/baking paper. The slippery parchment paper will annoy you a little as you spread the cook dough on it.  To minimise this, grease the baking vessel so that the parchment paper is anchored down. That is why I rather not line my baking pan.

Have the 1 Tablespoon of all-purpose/plain flour (for flouring) nearby.

Transfer the dough into the centre of your baking pan.

Dip you fingers in the flour and press the dough out to fill the base of the baking pan. The dough should also be be pushed a little higher up into the sides of the pan, about 1/4" (0.63cm).  Ensure that the base is pretty much levelled out.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm -about 2 hours. 

Chilling the dough is important as it helps to prevent the cookie base from shrinking when bake. It is not ideal to have the cookie shrink too far away from the sides of the baking pan as it means your lemon filling will spill down the walls of the cookie base. Ugh. So be patient and chill your dough.  

I usually prepare the dough the night before but you can do it 2 days ahead and refrigerate.

Baking the cookie base

Preheat the oven to 350F(175C) oven rack adjusted to middle position.

Prick the dough all over with a fork to discourage cookie base from puffing up.

Only when the oven is hot would you remove the baking pan from the refrigerator and bake immediately for 15 - 20 minutes or until the cookie turns a light golden brown.

Move on to making the lemon filling whilst the cookie base is in the oven.

The lemon filling

Whilst the cookie base is baking, you have to prepare the lemon filling as the cookie base will have to be filled in whilst it is hot/warm.

If you are using candied lemon peel, use a food processor to process the candied lemon peel, flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest until the peel have been processed into little bits. 

If you are not using candied lemon peel, just mix all the dried ingredients with the lemon zest. No need to blitz in a food processor.

Warm the milk and evaporated milk slightly (only enough to melt the butter). Do not boil or overheat as a layer of skin will form as the milk cools. Remove from heat source and add the butter.  

In a bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks. Whisk away any visible egg whites. You do not want the eggs to get frothy though. Set aside. 

When the butter has melted, add the dry ingredients into the milk mixture. Do not mix as yet. 

Gradually, add and whisk in lemon juice. This helps to prevent any flour lumps from forming.

Finally, whisk in eggs. 

Lemon filling can be made a day ahead. Bring to room temperature and stir to remix before using.

Remember the cookie base has to be filled whilst it is still hot/warm, so plan to have the lemon filling ready.

Baking the lemon filling

When the cookie base is baked through, pour in the lemon filling.

Reduce the oven temperature to 320F(160C) and bake for another 15 minutes or until the middle has set. Touch the middle with your finger, it should be firm but sticky to the touch.

Remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Once cooled, refrigerate for 2 hours until cold before slicing and serving.

If you slice it any sooner, the cookie will not slice up neatly and you will end up with quite a bit of cookie crumbs and cut edges that are broken up. Be patient.

Tips

How do you slice up Lemon Bars in your nonstick baking pan without scratching it?

Use a bench scraper! You will still get neat cuts of Lemon Bars.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                                 

I am working on my recipe for this Eastern European inspired Poppyseed Roll that has lemon, sultanas and almonds in them. Just in time for my Easter table!

Tiramisu With Eggs But Without The Raw Eggs

Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe: 
Tiramisu With Eggs But Without The Raw Eggs.

Link to my newest and old recipes:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

Update: I was thrilled that my recipe for 'Tiramisu With Eggs But Without the Raw Eggs' was featured by the Italian baker/confectioner Pan Ducale on their Facebook page, 20 July 2016. Here's the link to their page.  The feature was a surprise as it was unsolicited.

The raw eggs in Tiramisu bothered me. I ate the dessert with trepidation and was always apprehensive about serving it. I liked it quite enough to risk getting salmonella poisoning but to risk my diners' good health by serving it? How else could one eat Tiramisu?

It dawned on me that I could tweak my Tiramisu recipe to make it safer for eating. A cross between a sabayon and custard sauce would cook the eggs and still give the Tiramisu that rich mouth feel. Incorporate that with mascarpone and gently whipped cream and it should taste as good as conventional Tiramisu. Did the tweaked recipe work? It did!

Make this Tiramisu and eat it with confidence knowing that neither you nor your diners run any risks of an upset tummy.

Bring out the espresso!
TIRAMISU WITH EGGS BUT WITHOUT THE RAW EGGS 

Prep:	20 minutes
Cook:	5 to 10 minutes
Inactive:	Chill custard sauce for 30 minutes. Chill assembled Tiramisu for 4 hours and up to overnight to set.
Level:	Intermediate
Serves:	8 to 10 persons, depending on how greedy
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Yes, you can make it the night before you intend to serve it. It will keep up to 3 days but the savoiardi will get soggier the longer you keep it. If you are making it for a dinner party, I suggest you make it not any earlier than the night before.

Ingredients

The custard sauce

5 egg yolks

6 Tablespoons caster sugar

4 Tablespoons rum or coffee liqueur

If you do not want to use alcohol, substitute with 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence and increase both sugar and whipping cream to 1/2 cup each.

1/4 cup whipping cream

The whipped cream

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 Tablespoons caster sugar

Everything else

500 g mascarpone

An Italian cheese. It is soft, creamy and slightly sweet with a fat content of 35.5% upwards. Often sold in 250g and 500g plastic tubs.

2 Tablespoons rum or coffee liqueur (to mix into the custard sauce, whipping cream and mascarpone mixture)
If you do not want to use alcohol, you can replace it with 1 Tablespoon of coffee or rum essence (a synthetically produced flavouring).

300g savoiardi (also known as 'lady fingers')
You might not use up all the savoiardi. How much you use depends on the quality of the savoiardi and the size of your serving vessel.

Not all savoiardi are alike. Some do not taste that good and worse, go soggy fast. This is my favourite brand.

1 cup very strong coffee
Do not brew the coffee too early. Brewed coffee which has been sitting too long will start to taste acidic and sour.
I would rather have more coffee on hand than less. The amount of coffee you end up using depends on the quality of the savoiardi and how long you soak them into the coffee. I soak them very briefly.

2 Tablespoons coffee liqueur (to mix into the coffee)
Rum works well too.
If you do not want to use alcohol, you can replace it with 1 Tablespoon of coffee or rum essence (a synthetically produced flavouring).

4 Tablespoons cocoa powder (I like Valrhona cocoa powder)

You could partially or totally replace cocoa powder with grated semi sweet or dark chocolate. You would need at least 1/2 cup of grated chocolate. I find grating chocolate a chore and stick to my premium quality cocoa powder.

Directions

The custard sauce

Have a saucepan or pot and a dry, heatproof bowl ready. The bowl should fit into the saucepan snugly and sit about 2 and 1/2" (6.3cm) off the bottom of the saucepan. Fill the saucepan with 1 and 1/2" (3.8cm) of water. The idea is to not have the bottom of the bowl touch the water. Put the saucepan (without the bowl) on the burner and turn it on to get the water simmering.

In the meantime, add the eggs and sugar into the bowl. Use a whisk to break up the yolk into the sugar. It will thicken. Whisk in the alcohol and the whipping cream. When the water is simmering, put the bowl over the saucepan and start whisking continuously for about 5. 

The mixture will start to thicken pretty quickly into the consistency of double/thickened cream and start to look like custard sauce. 

If you think the sauce is thickening faster than you can whisk, remove the bowl from the saucepan and continue whisking. Return it back to the saucepan and continue whisking to get it to double/thickened cream consistency. It takes me about 5 to 8 minutes to get it to that stage.

Remove bowl and whisk for another 5 minutes to ensure that the custard does not cook in the residual heat. You do not want scramble eggs. When you lift up the whisk, you should see trails. 

To prevent skin from forming, place plastic wrap directly on the cream to cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes or until it is cold.

The whipped cream

Before you start whipping the cream, your cream must be very cold and the bowl and whisk must be cold. I refrigerate my bowl and whisk. Keeping everything cold will help you to whip up the cream well. Cream that is not cold enough might not whip up at all.

Whip the cream with the 1 Tablespoon of sugar until you have firm looking tips when you lift up your whisk. Do not over whisk or you will end up with little granules of butter. Nothing else you can do but to start again with another batch of whipping cream. 

Don't waste the over whipped cream though, use them in an omelette or in my recipe for Hamburger Buns, Savoury Buns, using it to replace the milk and butter called for in that recipe.

If you are not incorporating the whipped cream straight away, you must refrigerate it.

Assembling

Add the alcohol or the coffee/rum essence into the cooled coffee. Set aside.

Remove the cold custard sauce and the mascarpone from the refrigerator. Empty the mascarpone into the bowl of cold custard sauce. 

Use your hand held beaters or a whisk to loosen up the mascarpone. 

Next, start to incorporate the loosen mascarpone into the custard sauce. The mixture will look thick.

Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator and fold it into the custard mascarpone mixture. Fold in the 2 Tablespoons of alcohol or the 1 Tablespoon of coffee/rum essence. The mixture will be lighter in texture. 

Put this in the refrigerator while you set up your prep area as shown below. I am using a 8.25" (21 cm) trifle bowl.

Take one savoiardi and dip it half way into the coffee, sugar side down. Dip it in for exactly 5 seconds. I literally count "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" in my head. Please note that this soaking time only works for the Pan Ducale brand of savoiardi that I use. There is a photograph of it under the section, 'Ingredients'. As I mentioned in my notes there, the quality of savoiardi varies with every brand. Pan Ducale savoiardi have a richer taste of eggs and are denser (that's why it needs up to 5 seconds of soaking time).

Remove the biscuit and immediately flip the sugar side up and sit it on the bottom of the vessel you will be serving the Tiramisu. You flip the biscuit sugar side up so that the coffee can continue to soak down the rest of the biscuits.

Cover the bottom of the vessel with one layer of coffee soaked biscuits.

The number of layers your Tiramisu will have depends on the dimension of your vessel. As my trifle bowl has a narrower width, I know I will end up with three layers each of savoiardi and cream. I make a mental note that I have to divide my cream into three portions. You have to do likewise and portion the cream according to your choice of serving vessel.

I use a spatula to trace lines to divide the bowl of mixed cream into three portions. Spread one portion of cream onto the first layer of coffee soaked savoiardi. Even it out with the bench scraper.

Use a sifter to sift a layer of cocoa powder over the cream.

Assemble a second layer of coffee soaked savoiardi over the cocoa dusted cream.

Spread a second layer of cream, even it out with a bench scraper and dust with cocoa powder.

Layer a final layer of coffee soaked savoiardi, spread the last of the cream and even it out with the bench scraper. 

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 4 hours and up to overnight.

Just before serving, sift a final layer of cocoa powder over the cream. Do not sift it any sooner as the cocoa powder will soak through and look unattractive.

Cut or use a large spoon to scoop out and serve. Enjoy sparingly. 

You could also choose to serve the Tiramisu in individual ramekins like the ones I used in my opening photograph. I can fill 10 of those ramekins with this recipe.

Tips

• What to do with all the egg whites? 

There are a few options. You could make an all egg white omelette which is fast but rather dull or you could bake an Angel Food Cake or a Pavlova. I would rather make a Chocolate Pavlova as it is a fairly easy recipe. Any whipping cream left from making the Tiramisu can also be used to top the meringue. 

More challenging to execute would be the basic white meringue for the classic Pavlova. I do have a recipe that is most suitable for humid climates. Click here, Pavlova.

There is also Chocolate Eton Mess

On very rare occasions, I make a Watermelon Jelly with the egg whites. It is not made from watermelons but it is called Watermelon Jelly as it is made to look like one half of a cut watermelon. It is rather cute looking and a conversation starter. It is fiddly to make and that is why I hardly make it. Maybe one day.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                                     

I gave away any surprises didn't I? I will be making a Chocolate Pavlova. I drizzle it with my homemade Strawberry Jam (filed under the post, Strawberry Jam Simplified). Yum.