This simple recipe highlights the delightful blend of crunchy biscuits and tangy lemon flavor, providing a direct and refreshing taste experience!
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What is Lemon Square
Lemon Square, also known as Lemon Bars, is a popular American dessert. It features a shortbread-like cookie crust baked first, followed by pouring lemon curd over it and baking again to complete the traditional recipe.
Compared to the French Lemon Tart, Lemon Squares require no rolling or shaping of tart dough, making it easy to enjoy a tart-like treat with a crispy cookie base and luscious lemon cream.
I also tried making it using that method initially, but somehow I couldn't quite taste the lemon cream, and when I increased the amount of lemon juice, the tart crust ended up floating on top of the lemon cream. It was difficult to find a recipe that satisfied me.
Moreover, despite being labeled as "easy," having to bake it twice in the oven felt time-consuming to me, so I decided to try making it using a different recipe.
In the end, I decided to use a different recipe. For the crust, I used a mixture of crushed cookies commonly used for cheesecakes, combined with butter. And for the top, I created a lemon curd recipe with plenty of lemon juice, butter, and eggs, along with a small amount of gelatin.
This new method involves simply mixing the ingredients and chilling them in the refrigerator, so there's no need for an oven. The taste is delightful, with a direct and distinct blend of the biscuit's richness and the refreshing lemon flavor. It's an easy recipe that can be made quickly.
No Oven Required - How to Make Lemon Squares
Biscuit Base
Place the biscuits in a Zipper bag, then use a rolling pin to crush them finely. Once crushed, pour the melted butter into the bag, knead it in, and mix thoroughly until well combined.
Press the mixture firmly into the mold using the back of a spoon or the bottom of a glass to compact it. Once done, refrigerate the mold until ready to use. (Note: I am using a mold with a removable bottom. If your mold does not have a removable bottom, line it with parchment paper before adding the biscuit base.)
Lemon cream
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat well. Soak the gelatin in plenty of cold water. (For powdered gelatin, sprinkle a little more than 1 tablespoon of water over the gelatin.)
Squeeze the lemon juice and place it in a small saucepan along with the butter and granulated sugar. Heat it over very low heat. (In the video, I initially used a double boiler, but it was challenging to get enough heat, so I switched to direct heat later.)
Once everything is melted, add the eggs and continue stirring until it thickens. (Since the eggs can cook quickly, stir over very low heat, and once it thickens, immediately remove from the heat.)
After it thickens, turn off the heat, squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatin, and add it to the mixture, stirring until dissolved. (If using powdered gelatin, add it along with the water used for softening.)
Strain the lemon cream once and pour into the molds. Place in the refrigerator and chill well for at least 1 hour.
Remove from the mold and cut into squares.
Equipment
I am using a bottomless pan for this recipe. By using this type of pan, I can directly lay the biscuit base, pour the cream on top, and once it sets, I can easily remove the cake from the pan.
If you don't have a bottomless square pan, you can try lining the pan with parchment paper and then proceed with the recipe.
Square Cake Tin with Loose Base, 15 cm (6")
Ingredients
If you plan to sprinkle powdered sugar on top as a finishing touch, use non-melting powdered sugar.
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【No Oven】 Easy Lemon Squares Recipe
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings (15cm (6") square pan x 1)
Description
This simple recipe highlights the delightful blend of crunchy biscuits and tangy lemon flavor, providing a direct and refreshing taste experience!
Ingredients
Base
- 90g whole wheat biscuits
- 45g unsalted butter (melted)
Lemon Cream
- 100ml lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 100g unsalted butter
- 100g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4g sheet gelatin (or the same amount of powdered gelatin)
Instructions
Base
- Place the biscuits in a Zipper bag, then use a rolling pin to crush them finely. Once crushed, pour the melted butter into the bag, knead it in, and mix thoroughly until well combined.
- Press the mixture firmly into the mold using the back of a spoon or the bottom of a glass to compact it. Once done, refrigerate the mold until ready to use. (Note: I am using a mold with a removable bottom. If your mold does not have a removable bottom, line it with parchment paper before adding the biscuit base.)
Lemon cream
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat well. Soak the gelatin in plenty of cold water. (For powdered gelatin, sprinkle a little more than 1 tablespoon of water over the gelatin.)
- Squeeze the lemon juice and place it in a small saucepan along with the butter and granulated sugar. Heat it over very low heat. (In the video, I initially used a double boiler, but it was challenging to get enough heat, so I switched to direct heat later.)
- Once everything is melted, add the eggs and continue stirring until it thickens. (Since the eggs can cook quickly, stir over very low heat, and once it thickens, immediately remove from the heat.)
- After it thickens, turn off the heat, squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatin, and add it to the mixture, stirring until dissolved. (If using powdered gelatin, add it along with the water used for softening.)
- Strain the lemon cream once and pour into the molds. Place in the refrigerator and chill well for at least 1 hour.
- Remove from the mold and cut into squares.
Notes
When making the Lemon Cream (similar to Lemon Curd), be cautious not to overheat it after adding the eggs, as they can cook quickly. If it's challenging to control the heat directly, consider using a double boiler (bain-marie) for heating.
If you plan to sprinkle powdered sugar on top as a finishing touch, use non-melting powdered sugar.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Additional Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Tarts
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 120
- Sugar: 6
- Sodium: 45
- Fat: 9
- Saturated Fat: 5
- Unsaturated Fat: 3
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 9
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 1
- Cholesterol: 43
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