I love lemons.  In fact, lemon is my favorite dessert flavor, better than chocolate, better than mocha, better than pumpkin.  If you ever feel yourself doubting the existence of God, make a pan of lemon bars with Meyer lemons (actually a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange), and you will understand that such perfection cannot exist in the absence of divinity.

I have been finding my way to developing a shrimp and grits recipe all my own, which has been a learning experience.  Although last night’s attempt was less successful (but nonetheless enlightening), I turned my attention to a new invention working with much more familiar tools, and … created this lemon cobbler, all the tart, lemony sweetness of  a lemon bar, but with a decadently buttery cobbler topping.  This is best the day after you make it and with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Ingredients

Lemon Curd

12 T unsalted butter, softened
2 c sugar
4 large organic eggs
4 large organic egg yolks
1 and 1/3 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of two organic lemons (please use organic lemons – a ton of pesticides are used on citrus fruits)

Cobbler Topping

2 and 1/4 cups organic, unbleached, all purpose flour
3 and 1/2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 and 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375º F.

First, make the lemon curd.  I strongly recommend against using prepared lemon curd, which never tastes as fresh and is usually full of chemical thickeners and corn syrup.  Beat together the butter, and sugar with an electric mixer or a stand mixer until well blended.  Slowly add the lemon juice and beat it all together for about one more minute.

Pour the lemon mixture into a heavy saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over medium-low heat.  The curd will first begin to get more clear and then it will start to thicken, achieving full thickness after approximately 15 or so minutes.  Do not let it boil and do not overcook it.  It is ready when it coats the back of a spoon.

Once the curd is thickened, remove it from the heat and add the lemon zest.  My lemon curd pictured in this post is very bright yellow because I used eggs from our free range hens.  Their yolks are bright and colorful, almost orange.  Use high quality eggs in your lemon curd.  It makes a big difference.

Pour the lemon curd into a 13 x 9 pan and set aside to cool while you make the cobbler topping.

To assemble the topping, simply whisk together the dry topping ingredients and pour them (dry) over the lemon curd.  Using a fork, even the dry topping over the curd so that it is even and level.  Slice the 2 and 1/2 sticks of butter into very thin pats and “tile” the entire surface of the cobbler with evenly spaced butter pats over it and bake in the prepared over for 40 minutes or until done.  The cobbler should be bubbly with a warmly browned top.

Allow to cool to room temperature and serve with a high quality vanilla ice cream.

Vulture (left) and Brigitta (right) insisted on being featured due to the important role they played in this lemon cobbler.  🙂