One of the many things that I truly miss from my motherland is the Calamansi fruit {a small round dark green fruit that is available in the Philippines whole year round}. It is a perfect juice drink on a hot summer day or I use it in savoury and sweet dishes in the same way I am using lemon here in Canada. It is not easy to find them here so you can just imagine how happy I was when a I found a small bag of frozen calamansi in the Asian store one weekend. I wanted to make a dessert out of it so I tweaked Ina Garten's Lemon Bars recipe.
The citrus flavour was intensified by the mixture of calamansi and lemon and perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess! It was a hit in the office and hubby can't have enough of it!
Lemon-Calamansi Bars
Crust Ingredients
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling Ingredients:
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon and calamani zest
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed calamansi juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of
an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour
and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed.
Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball.
Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by
2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon and calamani zest, lemon
juice, calamansi juice and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes,
until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into square and dust with confectioners' sugar.
