Meyer Lemon Macadamia Crumble Squares

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Meyer Lemon Macadamia Crumble Squares is a buttery shortbread recipe full of the unique sweet citrus flavor of Meyer lemons and crunchy macadamia nuts.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)
• ⅔ cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup finely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 batch Meyer Lemon Curd or about 9-10 oz store bought curd or jam
• crumble topping
• (1.25l) fish stock (reserved 1/3 of the shortbread dough)
• ½ cup rough chopped macadamias
• meyer lemon curd
• 6 egg yolks
• ½ cup Meyer lemon juice (about 4 or 5 lemons)
• zest of 1 Meyer lemon
• scant 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter (cut in pieces)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and salt.
3. Add in the flour and chopped macadamias and mix until the dough comes together. It will be crumbly.
4. Pat 2/3 of the dough into a 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish, and reserve the other 1/3. (You can line the pan with parchment paper with edges overlapping to make it easy to remove, or you can just grease the dish if you don't care about removing the bars from the pan)
5. Top with about 9 oz of the Meyer Lemon Curd. Don't spread it to the edge, leave a little space around the perimeter. You will have a little curd leftover, and trust me, you'll thank me for that.
6. Crumble the rough chopped nuts with the reserved 1/3 of the shortbread dough. Just make large crumbs with your fingertips. Sprinkle evenly over the top. Don't worry about covering all the lemon.
7. Bake for about 45 minutes until slightly golden.
8. Cool completely before cutting. ( yeah right :)
9. To make the Meyer lemon curd: put the yolks, sugar, zest and juice in a saucepan. Whisk everything together.
10. Heat on medium, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until the curd thickens. It will darken and become glossy and translucent and coat the spatula when it is done. Do not let it boil. This will take about 10 minutes or so, depending on the level of your heat and the size of your pan.
11. Take off the heat and add in the butter, a few pieces at a time, stirring until all the butter is incorporated and the curd is smooth.
12. Cool and then store in a an airtight jar in the fridge. It will thicken further as it cools.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island