Coconut Lemon Bars

      I love the recipe for Lemon Ricotta Bars on Food52 , it's just that sometimes when I want lemon bars I want them a.s.a.p instead of waiting about a day. The crust alone is delish but you have to refrigerate it for 30 minutes then bake it for 30 minutes, and then you have to bake it again for another 30 with the custard, lastly the hardest part is waiting 2 hours for it to cool. This is not including draining the ricotta which takes about 24 hours.
     So, instead for tonight to cure my lemon bar craving I headed back to the good old trusty Alphabakery cookbook and made the lemon bars with coconut with a few minor adjustments. I used all the regular ingredients except for the flour I used Dolmata gluten free flour and less of it because it's rice based and soaks up quite a bit more liquid than the wheat based flours. I also add a lot more lemon and lemon peel because I like that little extra sourness, and as an added note I only use organic lemons because I don't like "edible wax" on my lemon peel. And lastly on the lemons, I am sure you are getting sour about all my lemon comments, I really, really, hate and I mean really hate pulp and seeds in my lemon bars so I double strain the juice. 

I SAID NO PULP!!

I also add lemon peel to the crust, like in the lemon ricotta bar recipe, but just 1 teaspoon for an added punch of sour.





Coconut Lemon Bars
For the crust;
3/4 of flour
1/2 cup of  melted butter
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon peel
   Preheat oven to 350°. Mix flour, buttah, powdered sugar, and lemon peel. Then Press in the bottom of an 8x8 pan, do not grease the pan, until even. Then bake for about  20 minutes. While it is baking make the custard.
For the custard;
3/4 cup granulated sugar, or a cup if you like it sweet.
2 teaspoons of lemon peel
6 tablespoons of lemon juice, or just two if you like it sweet. I'm sure you're really sweet.
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs beaten up pretty badly
1/2 cup of coconut
      Whisk all the ingredients for the custard together, if you dare you can taste it to adjust the sourness to your liking. At this point I put the mix in the refrigerator and clean the kitchen a bit while waiting for the crust to finish baking. Wait what's that beeping noise, it's the timer telling me the crust is done!

Now it's time to add the frothy topping with the coconut mixed in while the crust is still hot, hmmm listen to the sizzle of the crust as the cold, frothy, topping is poured on. I know what you are thinking, you pervert. Because that is not what I am thinking. Stop thinking and start doing.
   So anyway you put it back in the oven for about 25 minutes and when it's firm in the middle and a little bit brown on the edges it is done!
    So I like to think this is a good substitute for the lemon ricotta bars when I am in a pinch for something sour but doesn't take a few days to make.
Yummy sugary sourness.