Lemon Bars

“Do you know the land where the lemon-trees flower?”

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"You can't let your grandmother go home. We need her here. I'm over here just cutting off pieces [of the lemon bar] and eating it with milk."

-A neighbor

Now, Gramma believes that the secret to the best lemon bar that has ever passed over these lips might be the fact that she baked it in glass, it could be that she had to substitute half of the butter called for in the recipe with Crisco because the butter supply was low, it could be high altitude baking, it could be that the oven temperature wasn't turned down to compensate for the glass dish. Whatever miracle or miracles conspired I recommend you try them all -even if it require a trip to high elevation- and you will know when you have created the second best ever lemon bar.

The base of her sublime creation:

Sunburst Lemon Bars
from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sunburst-Lemon-Bars/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 
  
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 
  
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. First, the crust: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture is mealy. Press in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is light golden brown.
3. While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In the same medium bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, flour and baking powder with an electric mixer until light, about 3 minutes. Then stir in the lemon juice. Pour the filling over the crust while it is still warm from the oven. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes until the top is slightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool.
4. In a small bowl, stir lemon juice into the confectioners' sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until the icing is of a spreadable consistency. Spread evenly over the cooled bars. Cut into squares.