Surprise!

It’s springtime in NY and I wanted to make something with lemons. So, I flipped through my Mom’s trusty Best Recipe book and found Lemon Surprise. Well, surprise indeed! I don’t really remember my mom making these bars. But hey! It involved lemons!

Another surprise would be how many faces I saw in the inanimate objects of this recipe! For instance, did you realize lemons look like eyes?

And when you break eggs and separate the yolks…..well, take a look.

And look what I found in the pan!!!

(Ok, ok….I drew that one.)

One more surprise was a little longer in the making. The instructions say to beat the egg whites until stiff. I had a small inkling of what that meant. So, I took a whisk and beat the eggs for about a minute. There. Good enough.

Then I put all the ingredients together and stared at the batter.
There was NO way this was going to bake. At least, that’s what I thought. But, I made a leap of faith and put it in the oven anyway.

The bars came out lovely. SURPRISE! They were almost like custard. SURPRISE! I spoke to my mom today. “Until stiff” = stiff. As in you could make peaks with the whites. So THAT’S why my batter didn’t impress me. SURPRISE!

However, with or without the stiff egg whites, this recipe still tasted great and was a refreshing way to end a lovely spring day.

Lemon Surprise (from my Mom’s Best Recipes Cookbook)

3/4 C sugar

1/4 C flour

2 T melted butter

1/2 C lemon juice

grated rind of 1 lemon

3 eggs, seperated

1 1/2 C milk, scalded

Beat egg whites until stiff. In another bowl, beat egg yolks and milk. In a third bowl, mix sugar, flour, and butter together. Add lemon juice and rind. Add the egg yolk mixture to this and beat well. Fold in stiffly-beaten egg whites. Pour into greased 8x9 or 9x9 pan. Place dish in pan of hot water. Bake 325 degrees for 45 minutes. A custard pudding will be on the bottom and on the top it will be more cake like. Cut into 9 squares.Bake well and prosper!