I haven’t done a recipe in forever, so here’s what I made for dessert last night. I know, fruity desserts seem to belong to summer, but the local hispanic grocery store had limes on sale 10/$1, so I couldn’t resist. This recipe comes from the Beat This! Cookbook, one of my very favorites, given to me by Clare a couple years ago…
Lemon Squares 
First, start with limes. You can still call these lemon squares, of course. No one will put you in jail. People will just wonder why your lemon squares are so much more interesting than theirs…
Crust
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-in slices
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1-2 Tbsp almond paste
- 2 tsp grated lime rind
- pinch of salt
Filling
- 1 cup sugar, stirred together with 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (3-4 limes)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp grated lime rind
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
powdered confectioner’s sugar for dusting on top
Crust: Preheat the oven to 375. Butter an 8-in-square baking pan.
Place all the crust ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture just begins to form a ball. Then pat the mixtuer into the greased pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until it is a pale golden all over. Turn the oven down to 350.
Filling: Wipe out the food processor with a paper towel and place all the filling ingredients into the bowl. Process until very smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into the partially baked crust and bake for 20 minutes.
Cool, then chill well. Cover with a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar and cut into squares. Serve them cold. (My mother-in-law once tried to keep herself from eating some lemon squares she wanted to save. She wrapped them up and put them into the freezer. Then she discovered how much better lemon squares taste when they’re frozen.)
Makes 16.
A couple notes–these are tart, so they were not a hit with my in-laws this summer…Dad M is allergic to almonds (so I had to make him a separate crust without the almond paste), and Mom M prefers bland Italian desserts made of milk, eggs, and flour. But they are a hit with us, especially when we’re craving something tart and especially when they’re frozen! I promised Hannah I’d save her some for when she comes over to do Greek next week, so I’ll have to hide them in my freezer to make them last, even though I made a double batch!