Lemon Ginger Bakewell Slices

I planned to make these bars and I thought I was good on ingredients with the exception of lemons, so my husband and I stopped at the store and picked up some fresh lemons. I got home and I thought I had lemon curd, or something that I could use in its place. I didn’t have lemon curd, so I checked to see what I could use. I identified four possibilities, yes, I am well stocked! I had apple cinnamon curd, apricot pineapple preserves, lemon marmalade, and ginger curd. My husband thought that ginger curd would be good, and I agreed since I love ginger.

Since I used ginger curd, I decided to use a little less lemon zest to these bars. I didn’t add lemon to the base, and I just used the zest of one lemon in the filling. Perhaps I should have added some ginger to the base, but certainly it needed some salt. I did refrigerate my pastry base, but just for 15 or so minutes. It had firmed up but didn’t become so hard that I couldn’t shape it. In retrospect, I think I could have rolled the pastry base thinner, but I didn’t do that this time.

I will say that the ginger curd isn’t super strong, and I cut back on the lemon, so these bars don’t have a prominent flavor. Normally a Bakewell tart/bars have raspberry filling and this was intended to be a lemon version, so mine is a lemon and ginger version. Despite not having a strong, in your face flavor, these bars are excellent. They’d be easier to slice if the pastry base was thinner, but I can envision all sorts of variations made with different types of curd and preserves!

Lemon Ginger Bakewell Slices
1¼ cups flour
6 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1+ tablespoon water

7 tablespoons butter, room temperature
⅓ cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
¾ cup ground almonds
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons lemon/ginger curd
2 tablespoons sliced/flaked almonds

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour and butter and mix on low until the mixture is crumbly. Add the powdered sugar, then stir in the egg yolk. Add water, mixing intermittently on low, until the dough comes together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Once the dough is chilled, roll the dough out to slightly larger than 8 inches square (trim as needed). Press the dough into the base of the prepared pan, pressing the dough into the edges and corners of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Make the filling: in a large mixer bowl bear the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the ground almonds and flour. Mix until cohesive.

Once the bottom crust comes out of the oven, spread with a thin layer of curd. Top with the almond filling and carefully spread into a smooth layer, doing your best not to disturb the layer of curd. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the bars are golden. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Recipe from Scrummy Lane