2tablespoonsunsalted butter, room temperature and cut into ½-inch pieces
Shortbread Bars
1¾cupplus 2 tablespoons flour
¾cuppowdered sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
¾teaspoonkosher salt
¾cupunsalted butter, softened
INSTRUCTIONS
Blood Orange Curd
Bring an inch of water to simmer in a large pot.
Combine eggs, egg yolks, sugar, orange juice, and lemon juice in a heat proof bowl that fits over the large pot without touching the water.
Cook, whisking CONTINUOUSLY (so you don’t wind up with sweetened scrambled eggs), until mixture thickens enough to cover the back of a spoon.
Remove bowl from heat, and add butter a few pieces of a time, stirring to combine.
Strain curd through a fine metal strainer to remove any (almost undetectable) pieces of cooked egg.
Cover with plastic wrap, so that it touches the top of the curd to keep it from developing a skin.
Refrigerate for 2 hours and up to 2 days. If you’re only interested in the curd, you can also freeze it!
Shortbread Bars
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9x12 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving extra overhanging short edges to use to remove the bars after baking.
In a food processor, pulse the flour, powdered sugar, and salt until just combined.
Add the butter and pulse until blended.
Pour the mixture onto the parchment-lined baking pan and spread evenly. Use hands to press crust firmly down.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, until light golden brown.
While it is still warm, pour the chilled blood orange curd over the top and use a spatula to spread it evenly.
Bake for an additional 10 minutes, until the curd is set and slightly jiggles when moved.
When cooled, use the parchment paper to pull the bars out of the pan. Use a flour sifter to sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, and cut into squares.
This nutritional information has been automatically calculated, and as such, may be incomplete or inaccurate. Please reference the specific ingredients you use for the most accurate nutritional information.