It’s amazing how many recipes there are for the humble Lemon Square. Many of them reflect the rationing of expensive or hard to find ingredients. Some have a pie crust, some have only a hint of lemon and others seem to be little more than a lemony glaze over cookie dough.
Personally, I think that the crust needs to be as good as the custard and I use a quality short bread for the base. I have been experimenting with adding more custard and I think this works out fairly well now. I can’t imagine that anyone could get a tangy lemon taste without ample amounts of lemon zest (I add about 1/3 the amount of lemon zest with orange).
the crust
1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 cups flour
2 1/4 cubes of butter (.6 lbs)
3/4 tsp salt
combine and cook at 350 degrees F. for around 20 minutes
NOTE: often I only lay the crust on the bottom and not the sides.. but if I put dough on the side, I do not allow the dough to go higher than the filling. Personally, I don’t like overly browned crust.
the filling
1 1/3 cup lemon juice
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
8 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2/3 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon baking flour
350 degrees F. for 30 minutes
You can modify this recipe for pans with steeper sides if you want to reproportion the ingredients and make a thicker custard…
yum!
