Lemon bars

It’s been quite a time I haven’t cooked or baked anything to update this blog. I was too busy preparing my wedding and I just cooked simple dishes for meals.

In Vietnam, it is a tradition that the wife follows the husband when she gets married to him and the new couples stay in the same roof with the husband’s parents. This is usually a must if the husband is the oldest child as he does the responsibility of looking after the parents when they get older. Nowadays, unlike in the past, each family has only one or two children, and after years of working, parents are able to build or buy a house which is large enough to be lived by two or three generations. It is also a fact that young couples prefer living on their own so that they have more freedom. Some are well-off and they can buy a new house to live there right after their marriage, some are willing to rent a place. Either way has pros and cons. My parents-in-law wish to have us stay with them for the beginning so that we have a chance to know one another more, and to strengthen the family bonds.

In the first place I wanted to rent a house and we would live and work on our own. Then my husband persuaded me into living together with his family, who is also my family now, so that everyone gets to understand the others more. His biggest wish is that I can get along with his family and that I can feel like home when I stay here. So now, his family is my family. Everyday I cook in my mother-in-law’s kitchen and things are going on very fine.

Those are some words about my new life. My new family are very open about my baking. My parents and brother-in-law love my baking products in many ways, and they are often eager to my new baked goods. Now there are more people to try my baked stuffs, to give me more comments and feedback, to give me more reasons to be in the kitchen making something good.

I love lemon the very first time I made lemon tart. These lemon bars resemble lemon tart for the most part. This time I followed a new recipe in the Taste of Home magazine, with some changes to the ingredients.

Ingredients: (one 8” square pan)

* Crust:

- 113g unsalted butter, softened

- 45g caster sugar

- 125g all-purpose flour

* Filling:

- 130g caster sugar

- 2 eggs

- 3 tbs lemon juice

- 2 tbs all-purpose flour

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

* Icing sugar to dust the cake

Method:

- Preheat the oven to 350F (177C).

- In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the flour until blended.

- Press the dough onto the ungreased pan, bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.

- Meanwhile, combine the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, flour and baking powder in a bowl and beat until frothy. Pour this mixture over the baked crust.

- Bake for another 10-15 minutes until set and the filling is lightly brown on the surface. Remove the pan from the oven to cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle with icing sugar, then cut into squares.