Carrot-Orange Cake and Lemon Squares, French Style

The Tuesdays With Dorie online baking group made Fluted Carrot-Tangerine Cake and Lemon Squares, French Style this month.

The cake is in the Simple Cakes section of Baking Chez Moi and it comes together very easily.  I used an orange instead of a tangerine, as well as the medium carrot and grated fresh ginger called for in the recipe.

I baked the cake in a 9" round cake pan and served it dusted with confectioner's sugar.  I found it very sweet, with a flavor oddly reminiscent of Fruit Loops.  I'd like to try making this again with less sugar and a bit more ginger.



In recent years I have come to love lemon and was excited to make the Lemon Squares, French Style.  The recipe didn't work out very well for me, unfortunately.

Usually I make lemon curd to use up egg yolks after making an angel food cake or meringues.  Dorie's curd recipe uses 4 whole eggs (yolks and whites) as well as 9 ounces of butter.  I made the curd with no problem and set it aside in the fridge.

The crust uses another 9 ounces of butter.  I was a bit concerned about all this butter.  I followed the recipe and pulled the crust out of the oven when it was a pale golden color.

The next day I stirred the curd, spread it over the crust, and topped it with the reserved crust, in small pieces, and the slivered almonds.  I baked it 45 minutes and it looked beautiful.

Alas, when I started to cut the squares some hours later I found the crust was over baked, hard and greasy, while the filling in the center part of the pan was very soft.  I had planned to take the squares to a dessert potluck and was very disappointed with the results.  I don't know what went wrong.