We were lucky enough to get some Meyer lemons in our CSA share this week. Since I’ve never used them before, I was incredibly excited! I’ve seen this variety of lemons featured on many of my favorite blogs, and people are always raving about them. Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon [...]]]>

We were lucky enough to get some Meyer lemons in our CSA share this week. Since I’ve never used them before, I was incredibly excited! I’ve seen this variety of lemons featured on many of my favorite blogs, and people are always raving about them. Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and an orange, so they have a slightly sweet taste and an orangish hue.

I’ve been wanting to make lemon bars for a while now, and this was my opportunity! I brought these to work today and they disappeared before lunchtime. Usually, some of the goodies stick around until late afternoon when people need a sugar rush. These lemon bars were so good that they had to be eaten right away. Although I may have seen a few people squirreling them away for afternoon snack.

Since it was our first time with Meyer lemons and we had nine of them to experiment with, we sampled more than one treat. My boyfriend baked me the best damn Meyer lemon cake for my birthday. Since we don’t have lemon extract he substituted Meyer lemon zest, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. He’s a very talented baker, and I’m still hoping that he’ll write a blog post here someday!

I highly recommend both the cake and the lemon bars. The bars are so easy to make. The crust comes together quickly. I had a slight moment of panic when it appeared that the volume of crust and area of the pan would not match, but I pressed and pressed to fill the pan with crust. It ended up being the perfect thickness.

While the crust bakes, the filling is a cinch to whisk together. The most difficult part comes after you pour the filling into the crust. It looks like it will overflow, but in reality it fills the crust just perfectly so that it is nearly impossible to transfer the pan back into the oven. I watched as the filling dangerously sloshed over the edge of the crust only to be stopped by the slightest lip on the edge of the pan.

When the bars come out of the oven, it’s challenging to let them cool completely before digging in. I waited patiently, only because I wanted to dust them with powdered sugar before sampling one.

Meyer Lemon Squares
From The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Yield: 24 bars

For the crust:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs

For the filling:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (I used the juice of 3 lemons)

Preheat the oven to 350°.

To make the crust:
In a large bowl, or the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter until it is fluffy. This should take two or three minutes. Stir in the sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Add the flour and eggs, and mix well. The dough will be very stiff.

Grease a 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pan with butter. Transfer the dough to the pan and press until the dough covers the entire pan. Make sure to press the dough up the sides of the pan as well, so it will hold the filling. Use a fork to prick the dough all over. Bake for 8 minutes. It won’t necessarily brown, but it will look dry and set.

To make the filling:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, cornmeal, cornstarch, salt, eggs, and lemon juice.

When the crust comes out of the oven, carefully pour the filling in. Return it to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. The top and edges should be slightly brown. Place the pan on a cooling rack, and cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar.

Check this out: I made gluten-free Nanaimo bars!  This was my first attempt at [...]]]> The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

Check this out: I made gluten-free Nanaimo bars!  This was my first attempt at gluten-free baking, and I’m very pleased with the results.  So pleased that I ate the whole batch (with a little help, of course).

I had never even heard of Nanaimo bars, but now I’m a huge fan.  Curious about these unique dessert bars?  Read on.

Canada is hosting the Olympics in just a couple of weeks, so the Daring Bakers were challenged to make this traditional Canadian dessert to celebrate.  I always love to sample a new regional food.  Since I’m a cartographer, I always begin by locating the area on a map.

Then I read up on the history a bit.  According to the city of Nanaimo, a local woman submitted her dessert bar recipe to a magazine contest.  She called the recipe “Nanaimo bars”.  The recipe won, making the city as popular as the bars.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe that was given.  Since these bars come from Canada, I just couldn’t resist adding pure maple syrup to the middle layer (and a maple sugar candy on top!).  I also couldn’t find the custard powder that is called for in the middle layer, so I substituted cornstarch.

We were able to choose whether to make the graham crackers gluten-free.  I took the challenge because I had never baked gluten-free before.  I couldn’t find the sorghum flour but I did find brown rice flour, which Lauren had listed as a substitution.  The crackers came out delicious!  I’m now in love with sweet rice flour.  It has such a smooth, silky feel when using it to shape the dough.  The flours that I used are shown below.

Blending the butter in by hand is tough but rewarding work!  Who needs a food processor when you’ve got a pastry blender?

I used local orange blossom honey to sweeten the graham crackers.

Rolling out the graham crackers was no problem at all with a lot of sweet rice flour and some parchment paper!

The graham crackers came out sweet and crunchy.  Just perfect for crumbling!  Or for eating right away.  I was so happy to have lots of leftovers after making the Nanaimo bars!

I was too busy worrying about the chocolate and egg in the double boiler (see my notes in the recipe below) that I didn’t get any photos of the process, but you can see the finished bars below.

So rich and chocolatey!  I’m ready to take a trip to Nanaimo to try the original!

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers

1 cup sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
3/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes, cold
1/3 cup honey
5 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.  You should not be able to see any butter chunks.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, cream, and vanilla extract.  Pour into the flour mixture and stir gently until the mixture comes together.  It will be very sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface floured generously with sweet rice flour.  Pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick.  Wrap well with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (3 hours to overnight).

Divide the dough in half, and keep one half wrapped up and refrigerated.  Roll the first half between two pieces of floured parchment paper, until it is approximately 1/8 inch thick.  Cut into squares and transfer dough, still in parchment, to a baking sheet.  Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes, until firm.  Repeat with the second half of dough.

Preheat the oven to 350° with the rack on the upper position.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and peel off the top sheet of parchment.  Prick the wafers lightly with a fork in two or three rows.  Bake the dough for 25 minutes or until the edges start to brown.  Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack to cool completely.

To make crumbs for Nanaimo bars, crush about 1/3 of the wafers.  Use a food processor, or place wafers in a large ziploc bag and smash with a rolling pin (the latter method is more fun, in my opinion!).

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup graham wafer crumbs, recipe above
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Prepare an 8 inch x 8 inch pan by lining with two 8 inch wide strips of waxed paper in opposite directions, making sure that the paper reaches over the top edge of the pan.

Using a double boiler or a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of water, melt the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder over low heat.  Add the egg and stir until thickened (see note below).  Remove from heat and stir in graham wafer crumbs, almonds, and coconut.  Press mixture firmly into pan, and place in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the middle layer.

A note about the egg: when I added the egg to the heated mixture, it separated and started to curdle.  I am assuming that this happened because the mixture was too hot, or the egg was too cold when I added it.  I removed the mixture from the heat at this point and stirred it, hoping that it would come together.  It didn’t, but I soldiered on.  The bars still turned out delicious.

Middle Layer:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cups powdered sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.  Add the cream, maple syrup, and vanilla and beat until combined.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cornstarch and powdered sugar.  Beat for about 5 minutes, or until smooth.  Remove the pan from the fridge, spread maple mixture evenly over the bottom layer, and return to fridge to chill while you prepare the top layer.

Top Layer:

4 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Using a double boiler or a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of water, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat.  Cool the mixture, then pour over the middle layer and spread to coat.

Chill the bars overnight before slicing.  To facilitate clean slices, use a knife dipped in hot water and dried off to cut the bars.