A Surprise Birthday Tea Party and Perfect Lemon Bars

My oldest daughter is turning 30 in a few days. I kept thinking we ought to do something special to celebrate the momentous occasion, but couldn't think of anything good. Then one of her best friends came up with the idea of a surprise birthday tea party! Perfect! She and I plotted and planned via text for nearly two weeks. She made sure my daughter's husband would be home to take care of their toddler. I made sure my other daughter could make it. We thought up other friends to invite. We studied recipes, and we made goodies!

The party instigator made cucumber tea sandwiches, mini apple pies, and pear slices with cinnamon and honey. She bought rosemary crackers and herb goat cheese, and big round caramel wafer cookies. Another guest brought banana bread. I made lemon bars and white chocolate macadamia nut drop scones. We had Earl Grey tea. It was marvelous!

For once, I remembered to take pictures while I was preparing the food! Here is how I made the lemon bars.

The first step was so bewildering, I called my sister (from whom I got the recipe) to make sure it meant what it said. I lined the 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper, and then dotted the paper with butter. Then another sheet of parchment paper was put down on top of the butter. Weird.

That's how it looks with the second sheet of parchment paper in place.

I didn't think to take a photo of the crust mixture after I had worked it over with my fingers to make it crumbly. That took quite a long time! Then I pressed it into the pan and up the sides a little, as directed. Another time, I think I would grate the butter and spread it out more evenly between the sheets of parchment paper, and build up the edges a little farther, just to even it all out better.

Grating two lemons on my ancient box grater. It still works just fine!

Got the filling mixed together! It was a delightfully goopy texture.

When the crust was baked, I was concerned about a small hole that appeared, despite my best efforts to have it all sealed up. And there was a bump, probably caused by those butter blobs. But neither proved to be a major problem.

After the filling was baked, there was a small dark spot where the crust had bubbled, but otherwise it was fine.

After cooling for over half an hour, I began to cut the lemon bars. The crust did not cut well at the edges, so I ended up keeping the edge pieces and taking along the best ones from the middle!

Here is a pan full of nice bars! I had two such pans!

My husband got to help eat the substandard pieces and the crust bits. What a hardship! ;)

Check out the table, with the lemon bars in the front. Neither of us had a tiered serving tray, so we used pretty glass pans owned by the hostess. The mini apple pies weren't on the table yet, alas. My scones are in the round dish on the right, between the place settings. The hostess used her grandmother's china, which was quite elegant.

Behold the other end of the table! It was a wonderful tea party, everything was delicious, and my daughter was completely surprised! Success all around!

Here is the recipe I used. My sister sent it to me long ago, and I don't know where it came from prior to that.

Perfect Lemon Bars

The lemon filling must be added to a warm crust. The 30-minute chilling and 20-minute baking of the crust should allow plenty of time to prepare the filling. If not, make the filling first and stir to blend just before pouring it onto the crust. Any leftover bars can be sealed in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to two days.

The Crust
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners sugar (plus extra to decorate finished bars if desired)
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1.5 sticks), at very cool room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces (plus extra for greasing pan and placing between the parchment papers) OR frozen and grated on large holes of box grater

The Filling
4 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons finely grated zest from two large lemons
2/3 cup juice from 3 to 4 large lemons, strained
1/3 cup whole milk
1/8 teaspoon salt

FOR THE CRUST:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with one sheet parchment paper, or wax paper. Dot paper with butter, then lay a second sheet crosswise over it. The top one should have its ends sticking up over the long sides of the pan.
2. Mix flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt together with a fork until well blended. By the manual method, not food processor which we don't have anyway, toss the grated butter pieces in the flour mixture to coat. Rub the pieces between your fingers until the mixture turns pale and coarse. Sprinkle mixture into bottom of lined pan and press firmly with fingers over entire bottom of pan and about 1/2 inch up the sides. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
   FOR THE FILLING:
3. Meanwhile, whisk eggs, sugar, and flour in medium bowl, then stir in lemon zest and juice, milk, and salt to blend well.
   TO FINISH THE BARS:
4. Reduce oven temperature to 325. Stir filling mixture to reblend; pour onto warm crust. Bake until filling feels firm when touched lightly, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack; cool to near room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Lift the entire thing out of the pan by the edges of the top paper liner, place on cutting board, peel down the edges of the paper and cut into serving size bars, wiping down pizza cutter or knife clean between cuts as necessary. If you sieve that extra confections' sugar over the bars do it RIGHT before serving them, because it turns to a clear, sweet soup in no time.