Recipe: Seville orange bars
Feb. 26th, 2014 23:15![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI decided to make a variant on lemon bars the other day. I mean, you should be able to use any tart citrus, right? Limes were a possibility, though what I wanted was some good yellow grapefruit... but the produce market didn't have any grapefruit, oddly enough.
What they did have were Seville oranges.
I don't think I'd ever actually seen a Seville. They're known as the Absolute Best Oranges For Marmalade, but we don't see them for sale around here -- maybe in SoCal, maybe in Florida, but not in the Bay Area. I pounced. They're sour oranges, they should do okay in not-lemon bars.... right?
When I was juicing them, I tasted a little. Woo, puckery. Definitely in the lemon range. Nevertheless, I reduced the sugar in the recipe just a bit, figuring that I'd rather be on the tart side than cloyingly sweet. It turned out just right.
Five or six average Sevilles yield a cup of juice. They're very soft-fleshed, so they ream well, but use a very sharp knife to cut them. They also have three or four dozen seeds apiece (no, not exaggerating). Have a strainer handy. And for heaven's sake, zest them first!
The bars themselves are Completely Evil. They are Absolute Crack. It was a horrible struggle to put away half the pan in the freezer for later, and at that, I'll be hitting the store tomorrow for more oranges so I can make another half-batch just for this house. If by some miracle you score some sour oranges, now you know what to do... alternately, you could probably get by with some Meyer lemon juice and the zest off of some tangerines or tangelos -- something really intensely orange. It wouldn't be quite the same, though.
These are gluten-free, but the measurements are the same for wheat flour. Go nuts.
Seville Orange Bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Make a full batch if you want to freeze half (they freeze well). Otherwise, halve the recipe and make it in an 8x8 pan.
-- Full batch --
For the crust:
1/2 pound butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour (1 1/4 c rice flour, 1/2 c potato starch, 1/4 c tapioca starch)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
any zest left over from the amount below
For a robust orange layer:
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup flour (rice)
6 large eggs at room temperature
2 tablespoons grated orange zest (4-ish oranges)
1 cup freshly squeezed Seville orange juice
1+ teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
[Or] for a thinner orange layer:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup flour (rice)
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (2 to 3 oranges)
2/3 cup freshly squeezed Seville orange juice
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet VERY well.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt (and zest) and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands or a rolling pin to approximately the size of the pan; use a flexible cutting board or thin sheet of cardboard to transfer it to the greased baking sheet. Trim or add crust to build up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides; press any extra into the bottom crust as evenly as you can. Chill (optional).
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the orange layer, sift together the flour and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk together the eggs, zest, Seville orange juice, and vanilla, then gradually beat in the sugar mixture until blended. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (less if you are using the thinner topping), or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into rectangles and dust with confectioners' sugar. Don't fret if the ones on the corners crumble and separate; that's just what they do. Broken ones are to be eaten by the cook.
To freeze: Cool completely, then cut, but don't dust them. Place the squares in an airtight container with waxed paper between the layers and freeze for up to three months. I hear that you can eat them straight out of the freezer, but I can only assume that this would magnify the evil by a factor of ten. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME (without me there to establish whether it's safe... I promise not to eat more than half of them). Otherwise, defrost in the fridge for a day and dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.
What they did have were Seville oranges.
I don't think I'd ever actually seen a Seville. They're known as the Absolute Best Oranges For Marmalade, but we don't see them for sale around here -- maybe in SoCal, maybe in Florida, but not in the Bay Area. I pounced. They're sour oranges, they should do okay in not-lemon bars.... right?
When I was juicing them, I tasted a little. Woo, puckery. Definitely in the lemon range. Nevertheless, I reduced the sugar in the recipe just a bit, figuring that I'd rather be on the tart side than cloyingly sweet. It turned out just right.
Five or six average Sevilles yield a cup of juice. They're very soft-fleshed, so they ream well, but use a very sharp knife to cut them. They also have three or four dozen seeds apiece (no, not exaggerating). Have a strainer handy. And for heaven's sake, zest them first!
The bars themselves are Completely Evil. They are Absolute Crack. It was a horrible struggle to put away half the pan in the freezer for later, and at that, I'll be hitting the store tomorrow for more oranges so I can make another half-batch just for this house. If by some miracle you score some sour oranges, now you know what to do... alternately, you could probably get by with some Meyer lemon juice and the zest off of some tangerines or tangelos -- something really intensely orange. It wouldn't be quite the same, though.
These are gluten-free, but the measurements are the same for wheat flour. Go nuts.
Seville Orange Bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Make a full batch if you want to freeze half (they freeze well). Otherwise, halve the recipe and make it in an 8x8 pan.
-- Full batch --
For the crust:
1/2 pound butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour (1 1/4 c rice flour, 1/2 c potato starch, 1/4 c tapioca starch)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
any zest left over from the amount below
For a robust orange layer:
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup flour (rice)
6 large eggs at room temperature
2 tablespoons grated orange zest (4-ish oranges)
1 cup freshly squeezed Seville orange juice
1+ teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
[Or] for a thinner orange layer:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup flour (rice)
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (2 to 3 oranges)
2/3 cup freshly squeezed Seville orange juice
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet VERY well.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt (and zest) and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands or a rolling pin to approximately the size of the pan; use a flexible cutting board or thin sheet of cardboard to transfer it to the greased baking sheet. Trim or add crust to build up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides; press any extra into the bottom crust as evenly as you can. Chill (optional).
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the orange layer, sift together the flour and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk together the eggs, zest, Seville orange juice, and vanilla, then gradually beat in the sugar mixture until blended. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (less if you are using the thinner topping), or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into rectangles and dust with confectioners' sugar. Don't fret if the ones on the corners crumble and separate; that's just what they do. Broken ones are to be eaten by the cook.
To freeze: Cool completely, then cut, but don't dust them. Place the squares in an airtight container with waxed paper between the layers and freeze for up to three months. I hear that you can eat them straight out of the freezer, but I can only assume that this would magnify the evil by a factor of ten. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME (without me there to establish whether it's safe... I promise not to eat more than half of them). Otherwise, defrost in the fridge for a day and dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.
Seville orange bars
Date: 2015-10-02 01:30 (UTC)