Thickening for Lemon Bars Filling
 

Do you use flour or cornstarch to thicken the filling when making lemon bars? I have seen recipes using one or the other and wonder if the flour makes the filling cloudy. Does it matter?

I use Lemon Curd...it doesn't use either flour or cornstarch

5egg yolks
1cup sugar
4lemons, zested and juiced
1stick butter, cut into pats and chilled
Directions
Addenough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side.Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolksand sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1minute. Measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water toreach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth.Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on topof saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepanwithout touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of aspoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at atime, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Removeto a clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrapdirectly on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

I would use the cornstarch in preference to flour, makes it much clearer..

SewSassy, thanks for the recipe for lemon curd. I've never seen a recipe for that before, but we love lemon flavored anything, and my lemon bars have to taste really lemony.

I tried to copy it, so put in into word. While I was there I fixed all the missing spaces. Hope that's OK.

5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled
Directions:
Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1minute. Measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Remove to a clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Thanks for your answers. I made lemon curd last winter. Oh, my, that is good! Yooper32: I am thinking cornstarch, too.

If you all want a wonderful, very tasty lemon curd recipe, look no further. I have made this many, many times -- until, that is I discovered that I could do it in my Vita Mix blender. I takes 5-10 tops to make in the blender.

Gourmet Meyer Lemon Curd

Good enough to eat by the spoonful, this curd can be used as a cake or tart filling or served with scones, muffins, or fresh fruit.
Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20-30 min; Makes about 1 2/3 cups

INGREDIENTS

For 1 recipe:
2 t. Zest from 2 lemons
½ C juice from 3-4 Meyer lemons
½ TO ¾ C sugar
2 large eggs
1 cube unsalted butter, cut/4 pieces
FOR DOUBLE RECIPE:
1 T Zest from 4 lemons
1 C juice from 6-8 Meyer lemons
1 TO 1 ½ C sugar
4 large eggs
2 cubes unsalted butter, cut/8 pieces

PREPARATION

1. Finely grate zest from lemons (use Microplane grater for fast work)
2. Squeeze enough juice for the recipe
3. Whisk together zest, juice, sugar & eggs in a metal bowl & add butter
4. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water
5. Cook, whisking, until thickened & smooth until instant-read thermometer reads 160°F, about 5 minutes (in blender bring to 170°F)
6. Force curd through a fine sieve set into another bowl
7. Serve warm, or cover surface of curd with wax paper or saran wrap and cool completely.
8. Refrigerate in a covered jar when cool

Cook’s Notes:
 Lemon curd keeps for one week, if covered and chilled
 If substituting regular lemons, increase sugar to ¾ cup
 Making this in the Vitamix is easier; curd comes out very pale and fluffy
 Doubling the recipe works great
 Curd can be frozen

Epicurious.com, December 1999

Cornstarch would be my choice, too.

Here's a recipe that I use. It uses flour and they turn out very nicely.

Lemon Bars
1 cup butter; softened
1/2 cup powedered sugar
2 cups flour
4 large eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon four
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (3 or 4 regular size lemons)
1 cup finely chopped pecans
Cream 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Gradually stir in 2 cups flour until blended. Pat over the bottom of an ungreased 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking pan. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 15 minutes. At once, beat 4 large eggs slightly with a fork; add 2 cups of sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Add 1/3 cup lemon juice, and 1 cup finely chopped pecans. Stir (do not beat) until well mixed. Pour over warm crust. Return to oven and bake 45 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen edges and let cool. Then cut bars and remove. Freezes well.

Mac, what is a cube of butter? Is that a stick, which equals 1/2 cup of butter? I love lemon curd! I have been given a bunch of lemons, but I want to make the best recipe ever. This one sounds really easy.

This needs to be answered. Out west they use butter in a different shape then we do in the mid-west. Ours in the mid-west are long thin sticks at 1/2 cup each. We call them "sticks". Each stick is wrapped in paper that has Tablespoon markings on it. Each line is one tablespoon. Easy to cut off what you need. I just cut through the paper.
Out west a quarter pound of butter is a shorter chunky stick, so is probably called a cube. Could someone please explain how the tablespoons are marked on these shorter sticks, and what their measurements are?