With all of the basketball parties beginning for March Madness, we strive to create an appetizer, drink or dessert that has just a little more playing power than our competition.   My girlfriend, Kristine, will always bring a plate of lemon bars to any event.  I love fresh lemons in water or tea, but other than that, I am not a lemon fan when it comes to cookies, pies, cakes or candy.  I am a die-hard chocolate fan!  However, these lemon bars are to die for!  The crust is light, flaky and the lemon custard is just the right amount of sweetness with a little tartness, making this one of my favourite desserts.

There seems to be very little history when it comes to lemon bars.  Surprisingly, citrus curds have been around for about 125 years and shortbreads longer than that.  Since shortbread has the most important ingredient, butter, the word “shortbread” is derived from shortening. Many historians believe that shortbreads may have been made as early as the 12^th century, however, many attribute this buttery lusciousness to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16^th century.

When digging deeper into the history of lemon bars, it looks like Betty Crocker Inc. is the first to have combined shortbread and lemon custard, inventing lemon bars as we know them today.  Betty Crocker published the first printed lemon bar recipe in 1963.

There are many varieties of lemon bar recipes out there, all claiming to be the best.  There are Meyer lemon bars, raspberry, blueberry and chewy lemon bars.  Some recipes add 2 types of sugars for their crust, while others use whipped cream added into the custard.  Whatever recipe you choose the Vitamix Explorian E310 Blender can help in creating the perfect dough or custard filling.  The Vitamix Explorian is NOW ON SALE FOR A LIMITED TIME at UNDER $400!!

When creating a professional look for your lemon bars, make sure to bake and serve them in one of Le Creuset’s new spring color palette, "The New Calm" which includes tranquil colours of Sage and Meringue. All of Le Creuset bakeware is on sale for a limited time so get them while they’re hot!

With all of the mixing and measuring that will be going on to create your March Madness culinary field goals, make sure to use All Clad mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons.

This scrumptious lemony goodness Double Lemon Bar recipe was inspired by Epicurious. There are so many recipes to choose from when it comes to lemon bars.  To me, this one takes my cravings from chocolate to lemons, which is a feat in itself!

 Double Lemon Bar Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups All Purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (around 3 squeezed lemons)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon All Purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• Powdered sugar
• Lemon peel curls

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Combine 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in large bowl. Add butter and cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• Press mixture into bottom of 9x13x2-inch baking dish.
• Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Maintain oven temperature.
• Beat eggs, 1 1/2 cups sugar, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon flour and lemon peel in medium bowl to blend. Pour into crust.
• Bake until mixture is set, about 20 minutes. Cool.
• Cut into 24 bars. Sift powdered sugar over top before serving. Add lemon peel curls on top of powdered sugar.

We at Williams Food Equipment have put our best cooking essentials on sale for a limited time to help you jump into Spring!

Happy March Madness!