Food Crave | Lemon Bars

The other day, I stumbled across an old journal entry of mine about lemon bars. I really hadn't given the dessert a second thought for the longest time...but as soon as I read about how I'd made them and how tart and delicious they were, my mouth was watering. I wanted one right then and there.

I referred to a few notes that I jotted down back in the day. They read as follows:

"The key is to pat the shortbread crust out evenly and then work the dough up the sides with damp fingers. Also with damp fingers, even out the bottom. This will make the crust perfect every time."

and

"You must mix the custard by hand. In my experience, a electric mixer incorporates too much air into the mixture and ends up making unfortunate bubbles when baking."

I also noted to "drop the pan on the counter a couple of times to get the bubbles to the surface before baking.

 Did I follow my own advice? For the most part.

I tried but I didn't pay enough attention to coaxing the crust up the sides of the pan. While it wasn't too difficult to get the edge pieces out, they were a bit less than perfect looking. Plus...the pan was a pain and a half to clean! Make certain your shortbread goes up the side as far us as the filling is going to go to avoid this! 

Trust me. Lesson learned (again).

Another Note: Lemon bars need a thick crust. I mean...can you really have too much shortbread? Nope. 

So I doubled it.

Lemon Bars

with Rose Scented Shortbread Crust

Makes 16 squares

the Ingredients

Crust (already doubled):
2 cups butter
1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
2 tsp Lemon Zest
1/2 tsp rosewater
2 cups All Purpose Flour
pinch of Salt

Topping:

4 Eggs
2 cup Sugar
4 TBSP Flour
6 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice (1-2 lemons)

the Method

Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Get out a 8"x8" baking pan.

To make the crust, beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer until creamy. Add the lemon zest,  rose water, flour and salt and mix completely. Dump the mixture out into the pan and press with your fingers until it covers bottom and goes a ways up the side. You can wet your fingers to make this easier, if needed.

Bake the crust until golden brown ~ 25 minutes. Remove and cool on a rack.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Beat the eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice and zest until blended completely. Pour this over the cooled crust. Gently drop the pan to remove any bubbles in the filling before putting it into the oven.

Bake for ~25 or until the top is dry and slightly browned (not much at all). The filling will still be soft and gooey in the center.  Cool again and cut once completely cooled. It helps to wipe the knife off after each pass to keep the bars pretty crumb-free!

If you want, you can top with a dusting of powdered sugar right before serving...although they're so good it's not really needed!

*Recipe adapted slightly from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book--my favorite resource for baking recipes!

Farmers Market Find | Apricot Cream Cheese Tart

I (Bailey) am so excited to share a another brand new food series to the blog, Farmer's Market Find! 

After relocating to sunny California a year and a half ago, I've been spoiled by the wealth of fabulous produce that can be found at my local Farmers Market. I've gotten into the habit of religiously going early every Saturday morning to stock up on fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat for the week. 

In this series, I will feature one seasonal fruit or vegetable that I found at the market and share a delicious, fresh & easy way to use it. First up...Apricot Cream Cheese Tart!

Apricot Cream Cheese Tart

Serves 8

the Ingredients

Tart Dough (makes 2 shells)

3 cups Flour

1/3 cup Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled

1/3 cup Ice Water

Topping

8 oz. Cream Cheese, at room temperature

1 cup Heavy Cream

1/3 cup Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Zest of 1 Lemon

8 Ripe Apricots, pitted and cut into 1/4 inch slices

the Method

First, you will make your tart dough. Pour your flour & sugar into a large mixing bowl.  Then, add the chilled butter cubes. Using you fingertips, combine the butter into the flour mixture until is resembles coarse sand.*

Add the ice water 1 tsp at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins sticking together (it may take a bit more or less than the 1/3 cup called for). Divide the mix into 2 disks and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill for an hour (or the freezer if you do not plan on using it within the next day or so).

Once the dough has chilled and is firm, place the disk on a floured board. Roll the dough out into a circle large enough to accommodate your tart pan (mine was an 11"). Place the dough in the pan and press of the excess on the top edge. Make sure that you have sturdy sides, reinforcing them if needed. Prick the bottom with a fork to avoid the crust puffing up in the oven. Place the crust in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Bake the tart shell in a preheated oven (425 degrees F) for 15-18 minutes or until light golden brown in color.

While the crust is in the oven, you will make your filling.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add your room temperature cream cheese. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Then add in the heavy cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon zest. Beat on medium until a smooth consistency has formed. 

Once the crust is out of the oven and cooled, spread your cream cheese filling evenly into the bottom. Cover and chill the tart for at least one hour. When you're ready to serve the dessert, top the tart with your slices of apricot, starting on the outer rim and filling inward in concentric circles. Overlap the slices so that the filling doesn't show through. 

---------------

*This can be done in a food processor, although, I've never really had success using this method. I find that truly hand-made dough is the best & most flakey. It may take a bit longer (~5 min.) but the results are totally worth the effort.

With the extra bits of crust & filling, I made these mini tarts! Aren't they so cute?

Food Crave | Favorite Recipes & New Recipes

One of my all-time favorite snacks (or breakfast) is Avocado on toast.

I often keep it simple with lemon juice, salt and chilli flakes but I love this variation that I found at Simple Provisions. You can get the full recipe here.

In an effort to eat healthier I've been reading up on Sarah Britton's blog, My New Roots.

Last week she posted this bread recipe that I'm so excited to try!

I'm not usually much of a baker but this recipe looks to easy to not to. 

So Inspired | Peach Smores

I saw this video over at Dustjacket Attic and had to share it. 

B and I made cinnamon pumpkin smores for our photo shoot with Paige. They were delicious but these look even better!

xoxo
E