Hi everyone!! I have
a little bit of a personal post today. For
the past six weeks I’ve been recovering from patellar realignment knee surgery
and it had me laying low for over a month including not taking any photo
sessions. During those first five weeks, I spent a lot of my down time
attending workshops at CreativeLive learning from world-renowned photographers,
daydreaming of epic photo shoots, and baking treats.
My love of sweets began early in life. The mother and grandmothers in my life helped
me to appreciate a good dessert. Sweets
(aka desserts) are THE most important course of a meal for a person who just
can’t get enough. Sitting around on my
booty for 5-6 weeks had me thinking a lot about my photography business but
yes…about sweets too.
I specifically remember peanut brittle and divinity by
Grandma Dover, strawberry cake from Grandma Gatewood and pear with cream cheese
stolin from my mom who spent hours perfecting homemade bread and pastries while
I was growing up. Family get-togethers,
reunions, and Sundays were always accompanied by an amazing meal. It’s easy to correlate good times and good
food in the same memory.
The dessert course is it for me and I strive to find the
best recipe to create a Wow dessert for the # 1 person in my life. This person is my husband, a professional
chef and restaurant owner who can give an educated but sometimes cut throat
critique. If my husband gives it an A++,
by God, you know its award winning.
I wanted to share with you one of those ‘award-winning’
recipes that I tried over the last month.
It was a huge hit with family and friends. Lemon Bars are great for spring or summer
(heck who are we kidding winter and fall too).
Crust:
2 cups sifted organic flour
2 sticks unsalted
butter
½ cup baker’s sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Filling:
1 stick unsalted
butter
¾ cup plus 1
tablespoon baker’s sugar
½ cup freshly squeezed
lemon juice
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar for
dusting
Preheat oven to 350
degrees F. For your crust, combine flour,
sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add
butter and mix until mixture resembles course meal. Place the mixture onto a 9x13 baking pan and
press into an even layer. Bake for 20
minutes or until the layer is light golden brown (do not over bake).
Simmer water in a
saucepan and place a large glass (or Pyrex) bowl on top of the simmering
saucepan. In the bowl, whisk butter, ¾ cup sugar, lemon juice, and zest until
the mixture fills warm and sugar is completely incorporated. It will take about six minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat.
In another bowl, beat
eggs with 1 tablespoon of sugar until light and fluffy. Temper the hot lemon mixture into the
eggs…then add the eggs back into the lemon mixture whisking constantly. Pour the lemon mixture over the hot crust and
bake another 15-20 minutes. The curd
should be set and golden brown when it is done.
The confectioner’s sugar is used to dust the lemon bars. You can cut them into squares or into
triangles on an elegant plate to really impress.
I hope you are able to try this
recipe; it would be the perfect Easter Sunday dessert or an excellent sweet to bring
for food days at work. Let me know what
you think.
