Lemon Bars

Like biting into a ray of sunshine

Hey my dudes,

There are a lot of challenges in running a bakery from home. There are the obvious issues like where does everything go? Everyday is a never-ending game of tetris. I am constantly rearranging the fridge and freezer, trying to squeeze in just one more thing!

Another issue is baking time. I only have one oven and can only bake two trays at a time. I don’t want to wake up any earlier than 4:00am so I discovered that I can only bake two items “fresh” on Saturday mornings. The pastry boxes I make always contain 4 different pastries; a mini cake, a bun, a cookie and something random like a bar or a scone. The mini cakes are actually better baked the day before so that’s no problem. The buns have to be baked in the morning, the fresher the better. Cookies often need to be baked in the morning as well. Sometimes they are dry cookies, or something cookie-adjacent like a mazarin and they can be made the day before, but mostly fresh is best. Which means, almost every week, I need to make something “random” that doesn’t need to be baked the morning of but rather the day before. I have more fridge space than freezer space so it can’t be something that needs to be frozen. But the fridge isn’t infinite either so it should be fairly compact. Which brings us, very often, to bars. Last year I made a LOT of brownies and nut bars. They fit my requirements exactly and were delicious. I was so happy.

But brownies and nut bars aren’t very…springy. I still wanted to make some sort of bar, but brighter! Fresher!

“Jam bars!” I said to myself! “That’s the move!”

Infinite possibilities, easy to make, easy to eat. Jam bars were my future! And then we tested them. You guys, they were so mid. Like ok if you handed me one at a picnic I’d eat it and be like “Hey man thanks for the jam bar.” But they just weren’t good enough for the box. We tried so many different variations and none of them were good enough.

I started to freak out. I’ve made a whole thing about how every week we change the menu. I really needed some new recipes. I worried, I fretted, I agonized, what was I to do?

I needed a bar…that was fresh…fruity…bright…what fruit was fresh and bright?? And suddenly it hit me!

LEMON BARS! DUH!!!

I mean honestly how could I have forgotten about lemon bars?? Axel (my fiance and Bageriet Lordags Head of Recipe Development) set to work testing and in just a few days we had this wonderful recipe.

These lemon bars are tart and intense. They don’t really form a skin so you can’t dust them with powdered sugar like a traditional lemon bar but I solved the garnish problem in the springiest way possible, by decorating with edible flowers. Bright and springy, these lemon bars are like eating a ray of sunshine!

Xoxo,

Cecilia