This lemony classic is like a ‘personal cake’
Using her mother’s recipe, Louise Daly sells hundreds of lemon squares per week
They’re straight-up comfort food — treats made by mom that leave your insides happy and warm.
Although simple and a mainstay of Canadian “goodie boards,” lemon squares — and their makers — still get “ingredient” questions, such as: “are they made with wheat?” and “is there coconut in them?”
Louise Daly, owner of Etobicoke’s More than Pies+, sighs when customers ask. Yes to wheat, of course. But “no!” she says, about the hairy fruit. “Why would you ever want coconut in lemon squares?” Ah, baking existentialism. Daly sells more than 500 lemon squares per week — at her café, farmer’s markets across the city and corporate events. She’ll even special-order an uncut pan-full for patrons desiring a larger slice, so to speak. Daly suggests her squares are so popular because each is like a “personal cake.”
Uncomplicated, they still take effort. It’s a “labour of love” that begins with her late mother’s recipe. She says the secret — well, one of them — is getting the shortbread just right, which depends on the butter. Chilled and blended to remain chunky in the flour, the small lumps bake tiny holes into the “crust” when it comes out of the oven.
The jiggly filling is all made by hand, from freshly juiced and zested lemons — Daly and her staff go through hundreds a week, even when the price of lemons doubled earlier this year (it’s almost totally back down to normal now, she says).
The smell coming from the café’s open kitchen draws hungry customers, like bees to nectar.
Much care is taken to ensure these treats aren’t over-fussed or sugared. And they’re not. Daly’s lemon squares ($2.25 apiece or four for $8) teeter elegantly between sweet and tart. The filling is dreamily lush — firm yet jiggly — and provides the perfect suspension for the crust’s crackly bits. The whole shebang is divine.
“The ultimate compliment,” Daly says, “is when people come in and say, ‘Oh my god,’ don’t tell my mom but these are perfect.” Got an idea for Sourced? Email mhenry@thestar.ca.