Monday, December 05, 2005

Mondays with Maida - Florida Lemon Squares


Page 94 in the old book / page 137 in the new book

OK, these are the cookies Niki made a month or so ago and my pastry mixture did turn out crumbly, so I stand by my theory that it has something to do with the temperature of the butter. After all, it is nearly summer down under and verging on winter in these parts. As I typically do, I started with cold butter. This is due as much to my failure to plan ahead as any method on my part. My mother taught me to take the butter out ahead to soften, but my mixer has a paddle which I've found is capable of creaming cold butter with little difficulty (but with a considerable racket). Of course, I haven't checked with Niki to see if she did soften her butter, so I could be completely wrong.

Most everyone liked these better than last week's cookies. The cookie base was much more interesting - sweet with a higher proportion of dark brown sugar, and nutty with the addition of oatmeal. The filling was equally good and even more lemony than the cream cheese filling of last week. As Niki mentioned and Maida suggests, these are best served cold.

Suzanne: "The best part of the cookie was the crunchy topping. The cookie was too lemony for my taste. To use Phil's word from last week, it was too "puckerable." Rating - 2.5"

Denny: "Very good, crunchy and lemony, but could have used a touch of cream cheese. Rating - 4.0"

Laura: "Tasty and crunchy... with just the right amount of lemon! Rating - 4.0"

Phil: "Comparable to last week's Florida cream-cheese squares with a slightly thicker crust and tarter filling. As with key lime pie, the tart/sweet contrast really works, although key limes seem to offer the ultimate in pucker. Rating - 4.3"

Overall rating by the panel - 3.7

In two weeks - Palm Beach Pineapple Squares

Nutrition Facts

5 comments:

Niki said...

Ahh, but it was definitely not hot weather when I made these, but a cool, rainy Melbourne spring (typical). But yes, I think my butter was soft, which may well have created the sticky gooey crumb mixture I had.
I think I used a smaller pan too, which is why my filling is thicker than yours. I really need to buy myself a proper slice tin!

Nic said...

Gee, I don't know if lemony things can reall be too puckerable. At least not for me!

Anonymous said...

Cathy, these look so delicious!

Cathy said...

Hi Niki - yours looked so good, but altogether different from mine! I guess your dough was more like a regular cookie dough rather than a crumble. I may have to try these again with softened butter - for research purposes. :)

Hi Nic - I agree completely!

Hi Mare - thanks so much!

Reid said...

Hi Cathy,

These look and sound great. Now I know why you told me to wait until this week! =)

Did you say that this topping would go better with last week's base (crust)? I can't remember. BTW...I love sour lemony things....