lemon poppyseed bars

lemon poppyseed bars

• 10 Sept 2018

Last month when I made the sour cherry chocolate brownies I used an 8 inch square tin and the brownies came out quite flat. I realised it would have been better if I'd made them in a 7 inch tin, a tin that I didn't have in my cupboard. Thanks to Everten and the Mondo Pro 17.5cm square cake pan, that problem has been rectified so I decided to make a batch of lemon poppyseed bars in my new tin. 




Lemon bars are much loved by my workmates so by lunch time there were no leftovers. I didn't manage to snaffle a piece for myself either but I did trim the bars before serving and the trimmings were all for the cook.



I like my lemon bars lemony, so you'll need about 3 lemons when making this recipe.




Here's the recipe for you which makes 10 bars or 9 squares. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup, a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bars - makes 10 bars or 9 squares
Pastry
120 gm unsalted butter
1/3 cup icing sugar
½ tsp lemon rind
1 cup plain flour
3 tsp poppy seeds

Grease and line the base and sides of a 7 inch (17.5 cm) square tin with baking paper.

In a food processor, combine the butter, icing sugar and grated lemon rind and process until smooth. Add the flour and process until a dough is formed, then add the poppy seeds. Whiz a few times until the poppy seeds are incorporated, then press into the tin. If you don't have a food processor you can make this by creaming the butter and sugar and lemon rind in a bowl before adding the remaining ingredients.

Bake at 180°C/350°F (conventional oven) for about 20 minutes or until the base is lightly browned. Put to one side while you make the topping.

Topping
¾ cup caster sugar
1½ tablespoons plain flour
1½ tsp grated lemon rind
3 eggs
⅓ cup of lemon juice
Icing sugar

Lower the oven temperature to 170°C/325°F (conventional oven).

In a bowl stir together the sugar, the flour and the grated lemon rind until combined. Add the eggs gradually and mix to a smooth paste. Finally stir in the lemon juice and mix until combined. Pour the mixture over the warm cooked base and return to the oven. Bake until cooked, about 20-30 minutes.

While still warm, sift with icing sugar. Allow to cool before cutting into squares or bars. You may need to recoat the bars with icing sugar just before serving.

I've been baking up a storm so I'll see you all again next week with some baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian