I love lemon bars. If I am given a choice between lemon bars and
brownies, nine times out of ten I will pick the lemon bar.

One fine day I walked into Bakesale Betty's shop in the Temescal district
in Oakland (www.bakesalebetty.com). If you are generally in the area, it
is well worth a visit - definitely one of those "It's all good" places.
(In re current RFC threads, her scones are light and moist, a far cry from
the hockey pucks served elsewhere.) She specializes in home-style baking
and does it well.

I got one of her lemon bars (cut tart-sized, NOM NOM NOM) out of the cold
case. The next time I was in, I was served by "Betty" (Alison) herself*,
and raved about how it was the BEST ONE I HAD EVER HAD, including the time
I made lemon curd bars from a Fine Cooking recipe. She generously shared
the fact that she had worked it up from Alice Medrich's recipe in "Cookies
and Brownies". "Oh, wow, I gave my mother that book for Christmas once.
Thank you!"

(* If you go in, she's hard to miss - she's the cool Aussie chick with the
electric blue wig.)

The next time I visited my parents, you can be sure that I brought my
notebook along . I made the bars, and was generally pleased with the
result, but they were not as deliciously curdy as Betty's. The next time
I was in, I thanked Betty for her tip and mentioned the texture issue.
She allowed as how she put in more filling.

The next time I made it, I had four egg yolks hanging around the house,
and put them in the filling with the regular six eggs. SUCCESS.

I still buy Betty's lemon bars, but when I'm cooking for a crowd, these
are very popular. (If you want to see Medrich's original recipe - which I
doubled - it's at http://loveandcooking.blogspot.com/2...-goodness.html)

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

BAKESALE BETTY'S LEMON BARS
Based on a recipe by Alice Medrich in "Cookies and Brownies"

Makes a 13*9 pan - recipe can be halved for 8*8.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line your pan with foil (enough to "pull it out")
if you are not, like me, the happy owner of a rectangular springform. If
you are, like me, the happy owner of such a springform, spray or butter
the pan first.

CRUST:

2 sticks/16 TBS/8 oz unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla*
1/4 teaspoon salt

* if you have Fior di Sicilia from King Arthur Flour, put 1/2 teaspoon in

FILLING:

6 large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks**
2 scant cups sugar***
6 tablespoons (1/4 cup) flour
3 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest, or equivalent lemon oil (Boyajian
or similar, not "lemon extract" from the baking aisle)
1 cup strained lemon juice

** if you've got extra hanging out, throw them in!
*** if you're using Meyer lemons, scant it even more

Powdered/confectioner's sugar for dusting

Melt butter in suitable container (medium bowl or similar - I use my large
Pyrex containers). Remove from heat and add vanilla, sugar, flour, and
salt. Mix until just incorporated.

Spread in an even layer in pan. I make some "fork marks" to prevent over
puffing. Bake 20-30 minutes until lightly browned in the center and more
browned on the edges. (Timing depends on your pan and your oven, I
find.)

While the crust is baking, make the filling. (I use the same 8 cup Pyrex
for both.)

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Zest the lemons into the sugar-flour mixture.
Juice the lemons.
Combine the lemon juice and the dry ingredients, stirring well to remove
any lumps.
Mix the eggs well in a seperate bowl (you can do this one or two at a
time) and add to the lemon mixture.
Mix it all up well and evenly.

When the crust is ready, pull the oven rack out and pour the filling in
over the warm crust. Reduce the heat to 300 F and bake 20-25 minutes,
until the sides are puffed and the center no longer jiggles when the pan
is tapped.

Remove and cool before dusting with sifted powdered sugar and cutting. I
find that cutting is neater and the filling is less likely to develop cracks
if I take a small thin knife or spatula and go around the edges with it
shortly after the bars are out of the oven.

I highly, highly recommend getting a plastic serrated "lettuce" knife
(King Arthur Flour or cooking stores sell them) for cutting bar cookies
- mine look almost professional since I got one . Additionally, if you
love lemon bars as much as I do and see a lot of baking them in your
future, the $50 for the Kaiser heavy-duty springform rectangular pan is a
good investment.

Charlotte
--

On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:39:05 +0000 (UTC),
(Charlotte L. Blackmer) wrote:

> Line your pan with foil (enough to "pull it out")
>if you are not, like me, the happy owner of a rectangular springform. If
>you are, like me, the happy owner of such a springform, spray or butter
>the pan first.


First of all, thanks for this recipe. It is now saved.

But you don't know what you just did to me...I now have added to my
list of kitchen equipment to buy, a rectangular springform pan. I
didn't realize they came in that shape. And I could DEFINITELY use
one.

Surfas/Surly Table, here I come.

Christine

Christine Dabney wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:39:05 +0000 (UTC),
> (Charlotte L. Blackmer) wrote:
>
>> Line your pan with foil (enough to "pull it out")
>> if you are not, like me, the happy owner of a rectangular springform. If
>> you are, like me, the happy owner of such a springform, spray or butter
>> the pan first.
>
>
> First of all, thanks for this recipe. It is now saved.
>
> But you don't know what you just did to me...I now have added to my
> list of kitchen equipment to buy, a rectangular springform pan. I
> didn't realize they came in that shape. And I could DEFINITELY use
> one.
>
> Surfas/Surly Table, here I come.
>
> Christine

I had the same thought, but I couldn't find one on either site. I did
find this one - but it is square and 40 bucks. I think I will just use
the foil trick...

http://tinyurl.com/yq49c7

I'll look more later....

-Tracy

Charlotte L. Blackmer wrote:

> The next time I visited my parents, you can be sure that I brought my
> notebook along . I made the bars, and was generally pleased with the
> result, but they were not as deliciously curdy as Betty's. The next time
> I was in, I thanked Betty for her tip and mentioned the texture issue.
> She allowed as how she put in more filling.
>
> The next time I made it, I had four egg yolks hanging around the house,
> and put them in the filling with the regular six eggs. SUCCESS.

I *thought* yours tasted eggier than hers.

Yum. Lemon bars. Yum.

Serene