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Close up of decorated lemon bars with piped cream, raspberries and lime leaf.
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Lemon Bars - Keke Papatahi Rēmana

A delightful Lemon Bar recipe with strong citrus flavour and a delicate lemon custard made with creme fraiche. Perfect as a plain slice or decorated with a stable whipped cream.
Course Baking
Cuisine Slice
Keyword best lemon bar recipe, easy lemon slice recipe, easy lemon slice recipe nz, lemon bar recipe, lemon bar recipe nz, lemon slice recipe, lemon slice recipe nz, te reo Māori
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Servings 16 Lemon Bars

Equipment

  • 1 x 20 cm square tin with 5 cm high sides.

Ingredients

The Biscuit Base - Te Paparanga Pihikete

  • 120 g pata kūteretere (softened butter)
  • He kini tote - A pinch of salt
  • ½ C (80 g) puehu huka (icing sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon wanira (vanilla)
  • Kiri rēmana pīrahirahi (finely grated lemon zest, of 3 lemons)
  • ⅔ C (100 g) puehu parāoa noa (plain flour)
  • 2 tbsp puehu kānga (cornflour)

The Lemon Custard - Te Kahitete Rēmana

  • 1 C (250 ml) wai rēmana (lemon juice, you will need 3-5 lemons).
  • 1 ⅛ C (180 g) puehu huka (icing sugar)
  • 2 ½ tablespoon puehu kānga (cornflour)
  • 250 g kirīmi tepe (creme fraiche, room temperature)
  • 4 hēki (eggs, size 6)

The Decorations - Ngā Whakarākei (Optional)

Instructions

Preheat the Oven:

  • Preheat the oven to 175 °C bake setting or 165 °C fan bake setting.
    Grease a 20 cm square tin with butter and line it with baking paper.

Whip the Butter and Sugar:

  • Add the pata kūteretere (softened butter), puehu huka (icing sugar), tote (salt) and wanira (vanilla) in to a medium sized bowl.
  • Whip it on high for 5 minutes until light and fluffy in texture and colour.

Add the remaining Ingredients:

  • Waruwarutia te kiri rēmana (grate the lemon zest) in to the butter mixture.
    Mix it together with a spatula.
  • Add the puehu parāoa (flour) and puehu kānga (cornflour).
    Whakaranuhia (mix to combine). Once a soft dough forms, it is ready.
  • Please note: I have changed this base recipe slightly so it will be slightly looser to the base you see in the video.

Press the Base in to the Tin:

  • Press the mixture in to your prepared tin.
    Spread it out until smooth with a spatula or with your hands.

Bake the Base:

  • Bake for 25 minutes, until golden.
  • Remove the base from the oven and press it to the edges of the tin with the back of a spoon to ensure there is no gap around the edge. This ensures that no kahitete rēmana (lemon custard) leaks underneath the base as it bakes.
    Leave it to cool for ten minutes before adding the kahitete (custard).

Reduce the Heat of the Oven:

  • Turn the oven down to to 160 °C bake setting or 150 °C fan bake setting.

Prepare the Lemon Juice:

  • Juice the rēmana (lemons) until you have 250 ml of juice.
    If you like a sharp lemon slice you can replace a little bit of the wai rēmana (lemon juice) with the juice of one lime. Make sure the total juice amount still equals one cup.
  • Add the puehu huka (icing sugar) and puehu kānga (cornflour) to a jug or small bowl.
    Pour in a splash of the wai rēmana (lemon juice) and stir until a paste forms.
  • Add the remaining wai rēmana (lemon juice).
    Kaurorihia kia māene (stir until smooth).

Combine the Crème Fraiche and Eggs:

  • Place the kirīmi tepe (creme fraiche) in to another medium bowl.
  • Add one hēki at a time and whisk for around 10 seconds after each addition.

Add in the Lemon Juice:

  • Pour the first half of the ranunga wai rēmana (lemon juice mixture) and stir until smooth. Don't whip it too much just stir it through.
  • Add the remaining ranunga wai rēmana (lemon juice mixture) and stir it through until just combined.

Bake the Lemon Custard:

  • Pour the kahitete (custard) on to the slightly cooled base and return it to the oven.
  • Bake in a 160 °C oven for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes, open the oven and check the slice.
  • If it is slightly wobbly all over but spongy to touch, remove it from the oven.
    If there are patches that are super wobbly, leave the slice in the oven, close the door and turn it off.
    Leave it for five more minutes. Then remove from the heat.

Cool the Slice:

  • Leave the slice in the tin and cool on the bench for 20 minutes.
  • Transfer the slice to the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour.
    It is ready to slice and eat once it is chilled.
  • Dust with puehu huka (icing sugar) if you are leaving it plain or decorate it, following the instructions below.

Store the Slice:

  • This slice will keep well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to five days.

Make the Cream:

  • If you are decorating the slice, make either my white chocolate and yogurt cream or my stable whipped cream according to the instructions.
    Either one of these work beautifully on top of the slice however the white chocolate and yogurt cream has a more complex flavour.

Decorate the Slice:

  • Slice the lemon slice in to your desired sizes.
    Sprinkle the top with rahipere tauraki-tio (freeze-dried raspberries).
  • Pipe the pipe kirīmi (cream) mā on top and then top with sliced rahipere (rasperberres) and slivers of rau raima (lime leaves).
  • Once the slice is decorated it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days however I prefer to decorate it and serve it on the same day.