Creamsicle - La Pêche Fraîche

Now that spring/summer is finally/almost here, oranges are on their way out.

(I’m trying not to jinx the weather, people. The weather gods are a fickle bunch.)

In a few short weeks- days even- oranges will be forgotten among the lovely rhubarb, luscious berries, and, my favorite, the stone fruits.

(Now I want a peach. Ugh.)

But tis time. Oranges, like most citrus fruit, are for wintertime enjoyment.

You might still have a few lying around; slowly losing their juicy interior and their peel becoming ever so slightly wrinkled.

Juice ’em. And make these bars.

Honestly, the prep for these takes about 20 minutes. Start to finish.

Then it’s just 25 minutes in the oven.

Even if you are making something else on the side and keep running out of eggs and butter and needing to run downstairs to your storage fridge like FOUR times. FOUR.

Even if your gosh darned can opener is being moody.

These bars go from your mind to your stomach in less than an hour.

They are so creamy and dense, the way good lemon bars should be- but they’re orange bars.

They’re sweeter and have a softer, mellower flavor, in the best way possible.

Seriously addictive.

I cut mine into tiny little 1 inch squares, because that means I can eat 5 at once. Duh.

I was going to be super lazy and post this as a wordless Wednesday.

A few problems with that:
a) I’m not a cool enough blogger for that. I don’t do wordless Wednesdays or WIAW or weekly rewinds. My blog is clearly lacking in the W department.

b) Without words, it would be difficult for me to describe how awesome these bars were.

c) I’m bossy and I want you to make these. How can I do that without YELLING AT YOU?

GO MAKE THESE.

Orange Bars
for the crust:
adapted from Joanne Chang
8 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup flour
1 egg yolk
for the filling:
adapted from Martha
4 egg yolks
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup orange/lemon juice (juice from 1/2 lemon plus enough orange juice to make it to 3/4 cup, it took me about 1 1/2 oranges)
big pinch salt
confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until softened.
Add the sugar and salt and beat on medium-high speed until extremely fluffy and light, about 3 minutes.
Scrape the bowl and add the flour.
Mix on low speed until just beginning to combine; add the egg yolk and mix on low speed until everything is combined and the dough is forming small crumbles.
Transfer the dough to the pan and press out evenly.
Freeze for 10 minutes.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until firm but puffy and slightly golden.
Meanwhile, whisk all the ingredients for the filling together.
Pour over hot crust and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the filling is firmly set.
Remove from oven and let cool, then freeze for 30-45 minutes if you want a very dense bar (how I like them).
Remove from the freezer and cut into squares; let thaw and dust with confectioner’s sugar before eating.

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