In a bakery like ours, where breads and simple laminated pastries are the stars of the show, the pastry case tends to highlight different shades of beige.
While there is a lot more to a great bakery than chromatic drama, I always look to lemon bars after the holidays to add a bit of sunshine to our lineup.
A great lemon bar should be a bold shade of yellow, very lemony, and perfectly cut, so each square resembles a little pocket of sunshine. For this version, I make an incredibly useful Italian pastry crust called pasta frolla (and add a fair amount of lemon zest for good measure) for the cookie base. It’s strong enough to give the lemon bars some structure and delicate enough to crumble on the first bite.
I recommend making the dough in a food processor if you have one. It creates a crumbly base you can smash into an 8-inch baking pan. If you don’t have a food processor, be sure to cut very cold butter into the flour the way you would a biscuit dough to achieve the same texture.
For the lemon curd, pay attention to its consistency and don’t rush the process by turning up the heat. Properly cooked, lemon curd should be bright yellow, slightly wobbly, and taste refreshingly tart.
Chris Wilkins has been a professional baker for 12 years. He is a two-time James Beard Award nominee and the founder and co-owner of Root Baking Co. and Pizza Jeans. Submit your baking questions to bakebetterajc@gmail.com.
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