Saturday, June 1, 2013

Tea Room Recipe #22 - The Yellow Daisy (Little Rock, Ark.)

I consider Lemon Squares to be one of the most classic teatime treats of all time, so I love to try new recipes for them. This one had a mild lemon flavor and a crust with an almost shortbread type of consistency. Very quick and easy to make!

The book where I found this recipe, "Lunch at the Yellow Daisy," tells of a Little Rock tea room of yesteryear that was run as a charitable operation. According to this 1978 cookbook, it was "a tea room and gift shop operated by caring people for the benefit of troubled youngsters who live at Youth Home, Inc." The cookbook was used as a fundraiser to help young people who were "finding new direction and meaning in life." I'd love to think they found it, wouldn't you?

Lemon Squares

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon lemon rind

Combine butter, powdered sugar and flour with a fork or pastry blender. Pat into bottom of an 8-inch-square baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes (do not overbake). To serve, cut into squares of desired size. (Note: I halved the recipe, so the original has twice the ingredients listed here.)

11 comments:

  1. My sister makes the most delicious lemon squares and they sound much like this one. Thank you for the recipe.

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  2. Oh, yum! I do like lemon bars. What a great cause for a tearoom to have supported, too.

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  3. I love lemon squares myself or lemon meringue pie that I just baked. :-) Thank you for halving the recipe, the last 9x13 pan of sweets I baked we were eating forever.
    I'm off to a high tea with friends today - rain and all!
    Judith

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  4. I thought of you this week as a blog follower sent me a spiral cookbook from the Glass Slipper Tea Cottage in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

    Lemon Bars are always a classic! Have a great weekend!

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  5. Thanks for this recipe, Angela - hubs favorite thing of all is lemon flavored!

    You know, I get the saddest feeling in my heart everytime I learn of yet another tea house no longer around. I love learning about them, but always get so SAD.

    I bet you do, too. Just sentimental and wish I lived in an era when tea houses were everywhere and being a lady was the norm.

    Sigh. Ah well, at least we have one another to share, recall, teach and continue the cherished tea parties, yes?

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  6. Your lemon squares look absolutely delicious! Another fun tea room cookbook!

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  7. Yummmm! Lemon bars are a favorite of mine with tea and these do look delicious.

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  8. Those lemon squares look simply luscious! Love the way you coordinated your recipe to the color of the book!

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  9. Great looking recipe, Angela. I like the fundraising idea for the book, Joanie

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  10. I am really enjoying this series of Saturday Tea Room Recipes! What a fabulous idea! The stories are as good as the recipes, too!! :)

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