Lemon Bars are a really nice summer treat, and this time, I combined in a little bit of red currant — which I love, but I understand can be harder to find. You can always do the exact same recipe with raspberries. Meyer Lemons can be harder to find in the summer as well, so you can substitute out with regular lemons, though I would add a little bit more sugar (like 1/4 cup). Enjoy!
Ingredients
for the crust
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to just warm
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
For the red currant syrup
1 cup red currants, stems removed
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
For the curd
4 to 6 meyer lemons (3/4 cup juice, 1 tablespoon zest)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs plus 3 yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch of fine sea salt
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Confectioners’ sugar
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Directions
Heat oven to 325F and line foil sling for your 9×9 inch baking pan. Spray with baking spray and set aside.
First, make your red currant syrup as it should cool completely. In a small saucepan, combine prepared berries and water. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes until the berries are mostly falling apart, and the liquid is a extreme red. Drain through a fine mesh strainer, keeping the liquid put discarding the solids, which will be mostly seeds. Return the liquid to the saucepan and add the sugar. Simmer for 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the syrup starts to thicken. Remove from the heat. The syrup will thicken more as it cools.
To make the shortbread base, in a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, salt, egg yolks and lemon zest with a spoon until smooth. Add in the flour and mix until just combined. Press into the lined pan. Place the pan in the freezer for 30-60 minutes or so; the chilling of the crust prevents it from expanding and rising too much during baking. Bake until shortbread is pale golden all over, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool.
While the shortbread is baking, prepare the lemon curd: Grate a tablespoon zest from lemons and set aside. Squeeze lemons to yield 3/4 cup juice.
In a small saucepan, whisk together lemon juice, sugar, eggs and yolks, cornstarch and fine sea salt over medium heat until boiling and thickened, 2 to 5 minutes. Make sure mixture comes to a boil or the cornstarch won’t activate. Remove from heat and strain into a bowl. Whisk in butter, olive oil and lemon zest.
When the shortbread is ready, take it out of the oven and carefully pour the lemon curd through the strainer again, onto the shortbread base. Drizzle over the red currant syrup (either completely covering the lemon, or in swirls and patterns, as you like) and return the pan to the oven. Bake until topping is just set, 10 to 15 minutes more. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold before cutting into bars (use the sling to pull them out of the pan and then cut on a cutting board). Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and flaky sea salt right before serving.
