Whole Lemon Bars

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

I have a love/hate relationship with lemon bars. There are times when I crave them and there are times when I just can't stand them. I cook a lot with lemons though so I'm not sure why I have this bipolar reaction to this dessert. We used to make lemon meringue pie a long time ago and the recipe was somehow misplaced and I could never find a similar one so I gave up on it. After that unfortunate incident, I just lost my interest in making any lemon desserts. I guess that was my defining scarring moment.

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

That changed when I visited Dave Levobitz blog earlier this year and I came across a featured lemon bar recipe with get this, whole lemons. By whole lemons, he means all of it. And I have to say, it does make a difference. My only concern with this novel concept is that sometimes, the lemon sold in the stores have really thick piths underneath the rinds. To correct this issue, I found that collecting the rinds and then peeling off the pith works quite well. You get all the lemony flavor without the bitterness of the pith. This now is a favorite mini dessert and although I don't crave for it all the time, it is definitely a good way to get rid of extra lemons without making lemonade.

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

I followed the recipe religiously except for the small minor part of removing the pith so I've taken a picture of what the lemon should look like prior to the blitzing step. Hope the visual helps somehow especially when you are dealing with thick skinned lemons.