Greetings! It will be quiet in my little corner for the next couple of weeks as we are off on a trip to Scotland and Ireland, so let me leave you with a sweet treat.

These lemon bars are one of my favorite things to make and I get requests for them often, I should warn you that they are quite tart which is how I like things. If you’re more on the sweet side of things just up the sugar in the lemon curd. Also, the lemon curd is fabulous on it own.

Sorry that I forgot to take more (and better) pictures, but trust me, if you love lemons like I do, these bars are for you.

Lemon Curd Bars with Fresh Raspberries

For the curd:

• 1/2 cup sugar (more if you’d like it sweeter)
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon (optional)
• Large pinch of salt
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter cut in to cubes

For the crust (I use a recipe from David Lebobitz):

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For assembly:

• 1-2 pints of fresh raspberries

Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and set aside

In a separate bowl whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar. Slowly mix in the lemon juice and zest if using.

Add lemon juice mixture to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring slowly, but constantly until the mixture has thickened to a consistency similar to a custard or pudding, about 5-10 minutes. (You will thing this is never going to happen and then all of a sudden it will thicken).

Once the mixture has thickened pour it through the strainer to get out any bits of cooked egg.

Whisk butter and salt in to lemon mixture  set aside

Preheat oven to 350. Cover an 8×8 square baking dish with foil and lightly butter foil.

In a medium bowl mix all crust ingredients until smooth. Smooth the batter in to the baking dish as evenly as possible.

Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes until it is a deep golden brown.

Remove crust from oven and lower oven temperature to 300.

Pour the curd over the crust, spreading it out evenly, then put the bars back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove the bars from the oven and start decorating with the raspberries. I like to place them in rows, with the closed end up about half an inch apart.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Enjoy!