Gluten-Free Lemon Bakewell #Recipe by @LibbyKlein #Mother'sDay

Libby Klein Last Christmas, I bought a jar of Lemon Passionfruit Curd that I had planned on eating with scones. That just never happened because I was too busy trying to finish writing my next book to make scones. And being gluten-free, just buying it from the store is not something I can do very often. So I came across this recipe from Scrummy Lane for Lemon Bakewell Slices and it sounded perfect. 

I've adjusted it to be gluten-free. And the first attempt was rather. I don't know if that's a British thing or if the gluten-free flour didn't play nicely with the recipe, but I've made a couple of adjustments to tenderize the bars. Let me know what you think. And if you're British or have experience with British delicacies, let me know about your Bakewell experience in the comments.

Gluten-Free Lemon Bakewell

Yield: 1 9x13 pan

Ingredients:

Pastry

2 1/2 cups gluten-free one-to-one flour blend

1/2 tsp salt

6 Tbsp powdered sugar
zest of 1 lemon

6 Tbsp cold butter

1 egg

1-4 Tbsp lemon juice

Filling

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

zest of 2 lemons

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups almond meal

4 Tbsp gluten-free flour

1 cup lemon curd

1/4 cup sliced blanched almonds

Directions:

For the Pastry layer

In the bowl of your food processor, add the gluten-free flour, salt, powdered sugar, and lemon zest. Pulse until combined. Then add your cold butter cubes. Pulse until you form a crumbly mixture. Add the egg and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice and pulse again. You want a cohesive dough that isn't too dry or too wet. Add additional tablespoons of lemon juice until the dough begins to pull away from the side and form a ball. Think pie crust.

Pat into a flat rectangle between two sheets of parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take out the dough and roll into a rectangle the size of a 9x13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes. 

Make the filling

Beat together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and fully combine. Add the ground almonds and the gluten-free flour. Don't overmix.

Spread the lemon curd over the pastry base until just about the very edge. 

Smooth the top with the almond cake filling. Then sprinkle with sliced almonds. 

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned on top. Let cool, and cut into bars.

P.S - That Citrus Passion fruit curd was delicious.

 

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .

Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all.

 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/