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Lemon squares
To cut the lemon squares perfectly, make sure to cool the baked pastry in the pan. Once it has cooled to room temperature, wrap the pan in cling film and chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
Course
Dessert
Cuisine
American
Prep Time
20
minutes
minutes
Cook Time
1
hour
hour
Total Time
1
hour
hour
20
minutes
minutes
Servings
16
two-inch lemon squares
Author
Connie Veneracion
Equipment
9" x 9" inch pan
Ingredients
Shortbread crust
1
cup
all-purpose flour
¼
cup
white sugar
½
cup
cold unsalted butter
cut into small cubes
Lemon curd
½
cup
mascarpone
at room temperature
1 ½
cups
white sugar
divided
2
teaspoons
finely grated lemon zest
¼
cup
all-purpose flour
½
teaspoon
baking powder
½
cup
fresh lemon juice
4
large
eggs
To serve
powdered sugar
for dusting (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line the bottom and sides of a 9" x 9" pan with parchment paper.
Make the shortbread crust
Whisk the flour and sugar in a bowl.
Drop in the cold butter and cut in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Press the mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350F for 18 to 20 minutes until lightly browned.
Cool the crust while preparing the lemon curd.
Mix the lemon curd
In a bowl, mix half cup of sugar with the mascarpone until smooth. Add another half cup of sugar and mix lightly.
In another bowl, whisk the remaining half cup of sugar with the lemon zest.
Combine the mascarpone mixture and lemon zest mixture, stirring just until smooth.
Add the flour and baking powder and mix.
Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition.
Stir in the lemon juice.
Pour the lemon curd mixture over the cooled crust.
Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is dry, the edges are lightly browned and the center is just a little bit jiggly.
Cool in the pan completely. Wrap the pan, chill the baked pastry in the fridge until firm, at least six hours, before cutting into squares.
Optionally, sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
Adapted from a
recipe by Anna Olson
.