DOUGH All-purpose flour - 2 1/3 cups (280 g) Butter, unsalted, cold - 1 1/3 sticks (5.3 oz / 150 g) Sugar - 1/4 cup (50 g) Full-fat sour cream or whole-milk Greek yogurt - 3 tbsp (50 g) Baking powder - 1/2 tsp (2 g) Vanilla extract - 1 tsp A pinch of salt
FILLING Lemons - 2 Orange - 1 Apple - 1 Sugar - 3/4 cup (150 g) Cornstarch - 1/4 cup (30 g)
Pan: 8x8 inches (20x20 cm). Yield: 12-16 bars.
INSTRUCTIONS 1. Stir the sugar with the sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and vanilla, then chill it - it goes into the flour cold. 2. Sift the flour with the baking powder so there are no lumps and that tiny amount spreads evenly. Add the salt and mix; salt makes everything taste more buttery. 3. Cube the cold butter small, toss it into the flour and rub it in with your fingertips until it looks like coarse crumbs. Work fast - softened butter just smears into the flour. 4. Add the chilled sour cream mixture, stir with a spatula, then switch to your hands and stop the moment it forms a soft ball - overworking makes the crust tough, not crumbly. 5. Split the dough in two, one piece slightly smaller (about 60/40), wrap the smaller one in plastic and freeze it. 6. Line the pan with parchment, overhanging two sides so the bars lift out. Press the larger piece over the bottom, smooth it evenly, push it slightly up the sides and chill it. An 8x8 square pan is ideal; a round one that size works too. 7. Zest 2 lemons, yellow layer only - the white pith is bitter. Cut them into wedges, cut away the skin and pith, chop the flesh small and pick out every seed: one blended seed turns the whole filling bitter. 8. Do the same with the orange - peel, pith and the membranes between segments - and add it to the lemons. 9. Peel and chop the apple small. It mellows the sharp citrus and adds pectin, which sets the filling. Any crisp, firm apple works (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp). 10. Add the zest you saved and blend until mostly smooth; a few little bits are fine. 11. Stir in the sugar and cornstarch, leaving no dry spots before it hits the heat - cornstarch added to a hot mixture lumps instantly. 12. Move it to a heavy-bottomed pan so it doesn't scorch. On medium heat, cook to the first bubbles, then stir for about 10 minutes, scraping the bottom and corners, until it thickens and stops looking watery - a spatula track should hold for 2-3 seconds. Cook it much longer and the starch breaks down and thins again. Taste, and add up to 3 tbsp sugar if too tart. 13. Scrape it into a clean bowl so it stops cooking, stirring now and then as it cools. It must be at room temperature before it meets the cold crust, or it melts the butter in the base. 14. Spoon the filling onto the chilled crust and smooth it corner to corner, leaving 1/2 inch (1 cm) clear at the edges - it spreads as it heats. 15. Grate the frozen dough over the top on the large holes and spread the shreds evenly, but don't press them down - the air between them makes the topping crisp. If it starts smearing, freeze it 10 more minutes. 16. Bake on the middle rack of a preheated 390F (200C) oven for 30-35 minutes, until evenly golden with no pale spots. 17. Cool all the way in the pan, at least 3 hours - the filling sets as it sits. 18. Dust lightly with powdered sugar if you like, then lift the bars out by the parchment and slice into neat squares, wiping the knife between cuts.
NOTES AND TIPS Cold dough is everything: it only grates if it is rock hard. Freeze it at least 2 hours if you can, ideally overnight (wrapped, it keeps a month), and hold it through plastic wrap while grating. Butter: European-style, 82-85% fat (Kerrygold, Plugra) gives the crumbliest crust. Standard 80% works, but freeze the dough 30 minutes longer. Sour cream must be full-fat - light or fat-free adds water and makes the crust tough. Weigh the flour (280 g) or spoon it into the cup and level it off - scooping packs in 20-25% extra and dries the bars out. US lemons are usually waxed: buy unwaxed or scrub them with hot water first. Thick-skinned? Pour boiling water over the zest for 30-60 seconds and drain - less bitterness, same aroma. Home ovens often run 25F (15C) off - an oven thermometer is the cheapest fix. Storage: 4 days sealed at room temperature, 6 days in the fridge (sit out 30 minutes first), or 2 months frozen, layered with parchment.
AI Generated·May contain errors
Today we're making citrus apple marmalade bars with this really buttery grated topping.
So let's start with the dough. You'll want about a quarter cup of sugar,
three tablespoons of greek yogurt or sour cream works too, and just a splash of vanilla.
What I really love here is that contrast, that tender crumbly shortbread with this
bright homemade filling. It kind of tastes like citrus marmalade.
So yeah, once that's mixed, you want to pop that in the fridge so it gets cold.
While that chills, let's do the dry stuff. You'll need two and a third cups of all-purpose flour
and about half a teaspoon of baking powder. Sift those together. Get rid of any little lumps and
make sure that tiny bit of baking powder is really evenly spread. Then just a pinch of salt,
nothing crazy. Give it a quick mix. That salt just makes everything taste more buttery.
Now cube up one and a third sticks of cold unsalted butter, small pieces. Keep it cold,
that's key. If it softens, it sort of smears into the flour too fast and everything just gets
really messy. Toss the butter into the flour and quickly rub it in with your fingertips.
Go fast so your hands don't melt it. You're looking for something that looks like coarse
crumbs, no big butter chunks. Then you add in that cold yogurt mixture from earlier.
Pour it all in at once and start mixing with a spatula. Once it starts to come together,
switch to your hands but stop once it forms a soft ball. Don't overwork it or it'll get
tough instead of crumbly. Split the dough into two pieces, one just a little smaller.
Wrap the small one in plastic so it doesn't dry out and stick that in the freezer for now.
Next, line your pan with parchment so removing the bars later is no problem.
Press the larger piece into the bottom, smoothing it out evenly and push it up a tiny bit around
the sides. I'm using an 8 by 8 square pan but a round one about that size is fine too.
Slide that into the fridge too and let's move on to that filling.
First, zest two lemons. Just the yellow layer.
Stop before you hit the white part. It's bitter. Cut the lemons into wedges.
Peel off the skin and the white pith and then chop up the flesh nice and small.
Check for any seeds. Seriously, one seed in there will make the whole thing bitter.
Do the same with an orange. While I finish prepping the fruit, tell me what combo you'd
try in the comments. And if you're enjoying this, hit like and subscribe so we can cook together
again. Toss the orange pieces in with the lemons and peel and chop one apple into small bits too.
The apple mellows out that sharp citrus and adds pectin, which is this natural
gelling stuff that sets the filling. Any crisp firm apple is fine.
Small pieces help everything blend smooth. Throw in the lemon zest you've saved
and then blend until that's mostly smooth. A few little bits are totally okay. It's homemade.
It's not going to look like store-bought jelly. Stir in three quarters of a cup of sugar
plus a quarter cup of cornstarch. Make sure the cornstarch is fully mixed in,
no dry spots, before it hits the heat. Move it to a heavy bottom saucepan if you've got one.
It keeps it from scorching. Medium heat. Let it cook until you see the first bubbles.
Then keep stirring for about 10 minutes until it thickens and doesn't look watery anymore.
Once it's done, scrape it into a clean bowl so it stops cooking.
Give it a stir now and then as it cools. We want it room temp before it goes into that cold crust.
Pull the crust from the fridge and spoon the cooled filling in. Smooth it out so it's even
corner to corner. Take that smaller dough piece from the freezer. It should be firm and easy to
grate. Use the large holes on your grater and just grate it right over the top. Spread those shreds
evenly but don't press them down. Next, slip that pan into the oven. Bake it on the middle rack at
390 degrees Fahrenheit, that's about 200 Celsius, for about 30 to 35 minutes. You're aiming for a
golden top with no pale spots. Let it cool all the way. The filling sets as it sits.
And if you want, dust a little powdered sugar on top. Go light. Let that golden top shine.
Now's the time to slice them into neat squares.
Check out those layers. Buttery, crumbly crust with that thick citrus apple center. It's buttery,
tender, sweet, tart, so fresh. Thanks for hanging out. Drop a like if it looks good and I'll see you
in the next recipe.
