LEMON SLICE

A lemony slice, that’s oh-so-nice. It’s not too sweet and not too sour. The soft custard layer lies over a buttery shortcrust biscuit with hint of lemon.  This slice is a versatile all rounder to have on hand for sweet snacks, or dress it up with a dusting of icing sugar to serve with an afternoon cuppa, or you can even slice into long elegant slivers for dessert with dollop of cream.

If you’d like to make a batch of lemon buttery biscuits, cut straight to the pastry section of the recipe instead.  Grab a biscuit cutter and get the kids involved to fill the biccie tin.

makes 24 squares

Pastry:

300g Tuerong Farm winter white plain flour

90g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 3 lemons

200g unsalted chilled butter, cut into cubes

20ml lemon juice

Filling:

5 free range eggs (I used Yolky Dokey XL)

440g (2 cups) caster sugar

60g Tuerong Farm winter white plain flour

225ml lemon juice, strained to remove pulp 

Place the flour, sugar, lemon zest and butter in a medium bowl and rub together with fingers until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs with no visible pieces of butter.  Add the lemon juice and continue to rub until mixture forms a crumbly dough. Alternatively, you can combine the sugar, zest, flour, butter and juice in a food processor and pulse until a crumbly dough forms. Turn onto a clean work surface and pull dough together to form a ball.  Flatten dough to a 2cm thick disc, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 175°C (155°C fan-forced). Have ready a 20cm x 30cm slice tin.

Meanwhile prepare the filling, whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the flour and whisk until well blended and smooth, then stir in the lemon juice to combine well.  Alternatively, use the food processor to mix.

Lay the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll out to about 23cm x 33cm and 3mm thick.  Peel away the top piece of baking paper then quickly flip, transferring the pastry, paper side over the slice tray.  Peel away the second sheet of baking paper (now on top). Gently press dough into the corner edges and at least 1.5cm up the sides of the tin, making sure there no cracks in the pastry. This is to prevent the filling seeping out when baking.  

Bake the pastry for 20 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from the oven. Quickly whisk the lemon mixture and carefully pour in the pastry lined tin. Return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the filling has just set and golden on top. Set aside to cool completely. Cut into squares. Best served at room temperature. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

For biscuits only (makes about 25 biscuits, 4cm diameter size)

Follow the steps above to make, rest and roll the pastry.  Peel away the top piece of baking paper and cut out the desired biscuit shapes with a 4cm tin cutter.  Transfer shapes to two baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake in a 175°C oven for 8-10 minutes or until pale golden.  Allow to stand for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Hint: You’ll need about 4 to 5 lemons.  Recipe tested with Meyer lemons.

Tip:  Use a hot knife to cut the slice, for crumb free edges

Recipe by Fiona Hammond, October 2021