Lemon Squares

click to enlarge

I am the tenth, and youngest, child in my family. When I got married, the women in my family gave me a gift of a binder filled with their favourite recipes; each one is handwritten on a card, and separated into categories like "Casseroles" and "Cakes/Cookies/Pies". They are of the tried-and-true variety and part of my earliest memories. Deviled eggs at cookouts, Parker House rolls for Thanksgiving, Congo Bars after school, Baked Eggs for Easter brunch...it's impossible to separate the memories from the menus.

Some of the recipes are named for their creators (Boozie's Apple Cake), some are remnants of dinner parties past (English Muffin Appetizers), and some are imbedded in the history of New England (Anadama bread), but all are part of the very fabric of our family life. The binder took up residence on my "favourites" shelf that year (in fact, is was my very first favourite cookbook), and has never sat there for longer than a week without being used.

It's been a part of seven different homes and has crossed a couple of oceans; it started out by teaching two newlyweds how to cook and graduated to keeping a family well-fed. It was made with love, and a little bit of that love has gone into every dish and meal we've made from it ever since.

My oldest brother's only child is getting married in September. She is a wonderful woman, intelligent and talented, and her fiance is a gem as well. He is in the military, and after the wedding they will head for the first of many posts to come. Incredible adventures await, to be sure, but I know from experience that there will be tough times as well. I'm going to put together a cookbook for her to take with her on her journeys, one that has its roots in that binder that I received so many years ago. It will be printed and bound, and will include food photos, family photos and anecdotes in additional to the recipes. My hope is that it will be a warm reminder of the love and thoughts that are with her always- from so many people- across generations, time and distance. If she learns a little bit about cooking and baking along the way, well I guess that's good, too.

Lemon Squares were the first up on my list to make and photograph for the book, which thrilled my husband as they are his all-time favourites. This is my mum's recipe, and a perennial favourite at family get-togethers. The crust is tender and rich, quite similar to shortbread in texture, but holds up well without crumbling. The filling has a vibrant lemon taste with just the right amount of sweetness to balance it. It will be the first entry in the chapter on desserts, to my niece from her Nana.

LEMON SQUARES

CRUST

2 cups FLOUR
1/2 cup sifted CONFECTIONERS' SUGAR
1 cup (2 sticks) BUTTER, frozen


FILLING
4 EGGS, beaten
2 cups SUGAR
1/3 cup LEMON JUICE
2 teaspoons LEMON ZEST
1/4 cup FLOUR
1/2 teaspoon BAKING POWDER

CONFECTIONERS' SUGAR, for dusting

FOR THE CRUST:

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and line with parchment paper.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter (using the large holes of a box grater) into the dry mixture. Toss the butter pieces to coat, then rub the pieces between your fingers for a minute, until the flour turns coarse. Pour the mixture into the lined pan and press firmly with your fingers to form an even crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

FOR THE FILLING:

Whisk eggs, sugar, flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir well. Pour mixture into the pan on top of the warm crust.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the filling feels firm when touched lightly. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes. Grasp the parchment and carefully lift the bars onto a cutting board. Cut into serving size squares or bars, wiping your knife clean between cuts if necessary. Sieve confectioners' sugar over bars and serve.

Comments

[Kitty]

What a wonderful site. Hello, Michele sent me, now I have to go and hunt down my willpower as I'm supposed to be on a diet and it ran away when it saw those lemon squares :)

[True Jersey Girl]

Yummmm....I am getting hungry...

And hello, Michelle sent me!

[SEV]

michele sent me to a great place this time.. i love desserts !

[ZootsMom]

Wow those lemon bars look wonderful!!!!
By the way, Michele sent me and I'll be back

[nat]

Oh MY, I love anything lemon and this looks fantastic. Michele sent me and now my mouth is watering.

[Michael]

You have an incredible website. I'm absolutely taken by your pictures, recipes, and content. Impressive. I'm blogrolling you, which is dangerous because I'm supposed to be training for a marathon, not taste-testing every recipe you publish! Cheers!
p.s. And Michele sent me.

[Nancy]

Hello, Michele sent me...and now I'm hungry! :-)

[wavybrains]

Wow. Those look incredible, and bring back many great memories of my mother's lemon bars too. What camera do you use? (Yes I''m a dork). Oh and michele sent me, and I'll be back.

[bonnie]

Lovely lemon bars! What a perfect wedding gift idea! As the mother of eleven, may I ask how your dear mother is doing? Michele sent me and I shall very reluctantly go back to my fruit and veggie cleansing fast! ;~)

[La Nina]

Oh. My. Goodness.
That looks so good.
Now if only I could bake things without ruining them.

Michele sent me.

[Cori]

Simply looking at your photos of lemon squares is enought to send my willpower out to lunch! Hmmm...now to come up with a good excuse for making them!

Michele sent me!

[Vickie]

I enjoy lemon squares----looks like a good recipe and I will be trying it.

Micjhele sent me....Hello!

[Zarah Maria]

I love the idea of that binder - if she doesn't like it, tell her she's an ungrateful woman and that she can send it my way!;-) The lemon squares look gooooood too!

[Moira]

Holy cow, you guys- this is amazing! Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by and leaving such lovely comments...I'm feeling more fortunate than ever today.

Some specific responses:

Reid: I have not tried to make them with lime or blood orange juice, but I bet either of those would make for an interesting bar...please let me know if you give them a go!

Elizabeth: Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Rowena: Hee, hee- great minds think alike! Those co-workers of your husband's are lucky fellows, indeed. Did you get 'Falling Cloudberries' in Milan?

Celia: Thanks, sweetie...I think it's so important to share these recipes...not just with family...it's one of the ways we stay connected and keep connecting, isn't it?

Erin: That's such a wonderful gift from your grandmother, and it will be waiting for you when you're able to cook again- isn't that great?

Paul: I'm not a big lemon fan, either, but these are pretty awesome. Let me know what you think!

MommaK: What a sweet and thoughtful comment to leave...thanks a mil!

Megan: Bwaaahaaahaaa! The trick with fat-ass prevention is to give the majority of the pan away *immediately*. This is something I'm working on.;-)

Michael: Thank you for your very kind comments; of course you may blogroll me (why does that always sound vaguely obscene?;-))! Marathon training, huh? My husband used to be a competitive triathlete, and his motto was "Man cannot live (well) on coffee and PowerBars alone.";-) Stop on by for ideas when you need to stockpile those calories before the race...

Wavybrains: Thanks for stopping by! I use an Olympus C-5060WZ. It's fairly simple to use, takes TWO 512MB cards, and shoots in RAW, TIFF, and two different JPEGs.

Bonnie: Thanks! My mum is doing great- she will be 87 in June, and still works part-time at her local library. I hope you'll be back after your fast is done!

La Nina: You could do this recipe...really! I could send you a photo tutorial, but I'm sure you could make these on your own. Let me know how it goes!

Cori: Could you make them as a surprise for someone? That way you could indulge in a one or two, then put the rest on a nice plate, wrap them up, and give them away!

Cheers to one and all...you have *more* than made my day!

[Last Girl On Earth]

Great food blog. I live over a bakery...which happens to be right NEXT DOOR to another bakery. It's bad enough that I have to LOOK at that food every day... now after reading your post, I'VE GOT TO GO GET SOMETHING SWEET....NOW!!!!

Seriously, Michele sent me. And I'm glad she did. Have a great day!

[Maura]

Hello, Michele sent me and boy and I glad she did! I adore Lemon Squares and this post left me with a terrific hankering for some. Great idea about the cookbook, by the way. :-)

[tanya]

Hello, Michele sent me! Now I'm hungry for lemon bars. What a beautiful story and tradition!

[Claire]

That's an awesome gift and those lemon squares look so yummy!!! Glad Michele sent me along to meet you today!

[Ella]

Hello, Michele sent me. What a lovely post about love and memories. I'm a hopeless cook, but I might persuade hubby to make these for me...

[bullet]

sweeeeeeeet.. a blog about food!.. definitely coming back to this one :)

and Michele Sent ME :)

[bari]

I LOVE lemon squares! Now, since Michele sent me here, can I send you to my house to cook all these delightful things!?

[Sigmund, Carl and Alfred]

I love the idea and the irony- a family cookbook, meant to serve as binding for a lifetime, starts with a Lemon squares recipe. Even on the days that serve up lemons, there is always a certain sweetness to be found at home.

[Dawn]

Moira,
You have to enter the photos into a contest-they're amazing! I love that your family put that recipe book together for you as a wedding present. We a beautiful & thoughtful gift.

[kristen]

this is quite possibly the most breathtaking blog I have ever seen.

I love it. Can you tell?

And Michele sent me.

[InsanePreschoolMom]

Hello, Michele sent me.

I love lemon squares. And the idea for your nephew's bride-to-be is wonderful and heartfelt. Growing up in a military family, it was always comforting to eat the foods that were rooted somewhere.