When life gives you lemons, you have got to make these absolutely delicious Lemon Bars! The melt in your mouth shortbread biscuit topped with the zesty lemon curd is a match made in heaven. These Lemon Bars are the perfect Easter dessert!
Ingredients
For the Shortbread
- 2 cups (250 grams) All Purpose Flour
- ½ cup (65 grams) Cornstarch
- ⅔ cups (75 grams) Confectioners’ Sugar/Icing Sugar
- ½ tsp (3 grams) Salt
- ¾ cup (185 grams) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
For the Custard
- 3 cups (600 grams) White Granulated Sugar
- 2 tbsp (8 grams) Lemon Zest
- 1 cup (120 grams) All Purpose Flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 7 large Eggs (6 full eggs + 1 egg yolk), room temperature
- 1 cup (225 ml) Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
Method
- Line a 9”x13” baking tray with parchment paper with a slight overhang.
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
- Sift together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, confections’ sugar, and salt.
- Add butter, and using a spatula work the butter into the flour mixture until you get a wet sand-like texture.
- Toss the dough into the lined baking pan and press down into a flat layer. Use a toothpick or a fork and pierce holes in the dough. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- While the biscuit base is baking, prepare the lemon curd. In another bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Work the lemon zest into the sugar till it releases its oils and gets fully incorporated with the sugar. The sugar should get a lovely lemony flavour and turn lemon yellow in colour.
- Add the flour and salt to the bowl with the sugar and give it a quick whisk. Now crack in the eggs and egg yolk, and give it a quick whisk till all is well combined.
- Pour the lemon juice into the mixture. Gently whisking till it becomes a homogenous mixture.
- Pour the filling on top of the warm shortbread base and then place the baking tray back into the oven and bake at 350F/180C for about 40-45 minutes or until the lemon curd has set. I recommend turning the baking pan around halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. If you feel it is getting brown on the top, you can cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking.
- Remove the lemon bars from the oven and allow them to cool till it comes to room temperature. That should take about an hour.
- Now place them in the refrigerator for three to four hours to chill and set.
- Cut into bars or squares using a sharp knife. I got 24 bars of about 2×2 inches. Clean the knife after each cut for smooth edges.
- Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.
