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Why It Works
- Pouring melted butter over the dry substances evenly coats the flour particles with fats, leading to buttery, tender shortbread that melts in your mouth.
- Topping the bars with an Italian meringue—which includes pouring a sizzling sugar syrup into whipping egg whites—cooks the whites, leading to a steady meringue that’s unlikely to weep because the bars sit.
I had my first amaretto bitter eight years in the past, when my husband, who I used to be courting on the time, shook up the cocktail for me. Made with contemporary lemon juice, amaretto, bourbon, easy syrup, and an egg white—all shaken with ice till chilly and frothy—the drink was vibrant, fruity, and pleasantly bitter. It was a pleasant distinction to the rum and Coke, my go-to drink on the time. The egg-white foam sat on prime of the beverage, forming a distinctly fluffy layer on prime, and an Amarena cherry left a wealthy, syrupy path in the direction of the underside of the glass. The drink jogged my memory of my favourite lemon bars: punchy sufficient to make you pucker, with simply sufficient sugar to stability its tartness.
With the vacation season upon us, I made a decision it was lastly time to make use of my favourite drink as a blueprint for a enjoyable new addition to my common roster of cookies. Cue the amaretto bitter lemon bar: a pointy amaretto-spiked lemon curd baked atop buttery shortbread topped with swoops of pillowy Italian meringue and an Amarena cherry.
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
4 Key Strategies for the Finest Amaretto Bitter Lemon Bars
Use melted butter for a better, quicker shortbread base. Whereas most lemon bars use a chilly butter shortbread as their base, these doughs are sometimes fussy to deal with or require vital chilling time. As Genevieve does in her shortbread, I additionally selected to make use of melted butter as an alternative of chilly butter to make my shortbread base, a a lot simpler technique that produces equally scrumptious outcomes. The melted butter coats the flour particles with fats, which minimizes gluten improvement and retains the cookie crust tender.
Use additional yolks and cook dinner the curd to a barely larger temperature than regular for a wealthy, steady curd. Along with three complete eggs, I exploit three egg yolks, which give the curd further richness and taste. (The egg whites get used within the meringue, so they do not go to waste.) It is important to cook dinner the curd correctly: It might be tempting to cease cooking the curd round 150ºF (66ºC), which is when it begins to thicken, however for a custard that units right into a sliceable texture, I like to recommend taking the curd to a barely larger temperature of 170ºF (77ºC), which is consistent with what former Critical Eats editor Stella recommends in her recipe for sunny lemon bars. As soon as the curd hits that temperature, I pressure the combination by means of a fine-mesh sieve for a silky-smooth filling.
Use an Italian meringue for probably the most steady topping. The ultimate layer is an Italian meringue. Whereas it is recognized to be the fussiest amongst Swiss, Italian, and French meringues, it is also probably the most steady. Pouring a sizzling sugar syrup into the whipping egg whites cooks them, stopping the meringue from weeping because the bars sit, and in addition producing a foam that’s sturdy sufficient to resist the burden of the Amarena cherries. Although it isn’t needed, I like to recommend evenly toasting the meringue—both with a kitchen torch or below the broiler—which turns the bars into an imposing wanting dessert paying homage to lemon meringue pie. (As a result of it’s troublesome to whip a small quantity of egg whites, this recipe produces extra meringue than you’ll want: Use it to prime one other pie, tart, or bar, or unfold it out onto a foil-lined baking sheet, then evenly cross a kitchen torch over it for a marshmallow-y deal with.)
Attain for Amarena cherries. I like to recommend utilizing wealthy burgundy Amarena cherries. Not like Maraschino cherries, Amarena cherries have nuanced candy and bitter notes and are agency and juicy, making them a pleasure to chew into. Positioned on every bar, they’re the literal cherry on prime.
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
Flip Your Favourite Amaretto Cocktail Right into a Boozy Vacation Dessert Your Company Will By no means Neglect
Prepare dinner Mode
(Hold display screen awake)
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160g all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces; 1 1/4 cups)
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50g granulated sugar (1 3/4 ounces; 1/4 cup)
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1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity
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140g unsalted butter (5 ounces; 10 tablespoons), melted
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275g granulated sugar (9 3/4 ounces; about 1 1/3 cups)
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1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity
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3 massive eggs
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3 massive egg yolks, whites reserved
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2/3 cup (160ml) contemporary lemon juice from 5 medium lemons
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1/4 cup (50g) amaretto liqueur (see notes)
For the Meringue:
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150g granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces; 3/4 cup)
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1/3 cup (80ml) water
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3 massive egg whites (from above)
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1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
To Garnish:
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For the Crust: Regulate oven rack to center place and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8- by 8-inch aluminum baking pan with two 8-inch extensive strips of parchment lengthy sufficient to overhang pan’s edges by 2 inches; put aside.
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In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, sugar, and salt to mix. Pour melted butter into flour combination and, utilizing a rubber spatula or dough scraper, incorporate butter into dry substances, gently stirring and urgent to mix, till a cohesive dough simply varieties and no dry bits stay, about 1 minute. (Watch out to not overwork the dough.)
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
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Scrape dough into ready baking pan and, utilizing an offset spatula or the flat backside of a glass or measuring cup, press dough into a fair layer. Bake till aromatic, agency, and golden, about 25 minutes. Permit shortbread to chill fully within the baking pan, about half-hour.
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
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For the Curd: In a medium saucepan, whisk sugar, salt, complete eggs, and yolks to mix. Add lemon juice and amaretto and whisk till {smooth}. Prepare dinner over low warmth, utilizing a whisk to stir steadily, till frothy, about 3 minutes. Enhance warmth to medium and proceed cooking, stirring continuously, till curd thickens and registers 170ºF (77ºC) on an instant-read thermometer, about 8 minutes. Utilizing a fine-mesh sieve, instantly pressure curd onto the ready crust. Utilizing an offset spatula, {smooth} curd into a fair layer, and canopy pan with aluminum foil. Bake till {smooth} and simply beginning to set alongside the sides, about 10 minutes. Take away foil and funky to room temperature, about 90 minutes. Then cowl once more with foil and refrigerate till chilly and the curd is agency with none jiggle, about 2 hours and as much as 5 days.
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
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For the Meringue: Within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix egg whites and cream of tartar. With the mixer on medium pace, whisk egg whites till tender peaks kind, 10 to 13 minutes. (When lifted, there must be light peaks that very slowly collapse again into themselves.)
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
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In a small saucepan, mix sugar and water. Convey to a boil and cook dinner till sugar syrup registers 240°F (116°C) on an instant-read or sweet thermometer, about 4 minutes.
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
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With the mixer working on medium pace, fastidiously and slowly drizzle sizzling sugar syrup into the bowl alongside the aspect, avoiding hitting the whisk attachment. Enhance pace to excessive and whip till stiff peaks kind and meringue is not sizzling, about 10 minutes.
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
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For Assembling the Bars: Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Run an offset spatula or butter knife round edges of baking pan, then fastidiously carry parchment overhang to softly take away bars. Place bars on a slicing board and, utilizing a pointy knife, lower bars into sixteen 2- by 2-inch squares. (For cleaner cuts, run knife below heat water and dry knife with a clear kitchen towel earlier than portioning every slice.)
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
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Place the lower lemon squares on ready baking sheet. Spoon a beneficiant dollop of meringue on prime of a lemon sq. and, utilizing the again of the spoon, make an indent simply deep sufficient to carry an Amarena cherry. Repeat with remaining lemon bars. Utilizing a kitchen blowtorch, torch meringue 1 to 2 inches away from floor till evenly browned. (See notes for broiler directions if you don’t personal a blowtorch.) Refrigerate till chilly, about half-hour. Prime every bar with a single cherry earlier than serving.
Critical Eats / Vy Tran
Particular Gear
8- by 8-inch aluminum baking pan, medium saucepan, fine-mesh sieve, instant-read thermometer or sweet thermometer
Notes
Pay attention to the substances in your amaretto for allergen functions. Some are derived from almonds however most are made with the kernels of stone fruit reminiscent of apricots.
To make use of the broiler as an alternative of a kitchen torch: Regulate oven rack to 2 inches from broiler and preheat broiler on low. Broil meringue, rotating baking sheet midway by means of, till evenly brown and toasted for about 2 minutes.
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