Sometimes It Doesn't Go As Planned: Crystal Palace Lemon Square Recipe

The dirty little secret about a blog like this is that you often have to try things more than once. In fact, most things don't go as expected the first time out. Usually I can sprinkle a little fairy dust on it and make it just the way I like it. But every now and then, I have a complete flop; something that just isn't going to work no matter how many ways I try to salvage it. My most recent case in point: Crystal Palace Lemon Squares.

There are a lot of great sites out there with Disney recipes. And I am a huge fan of bringing a little Disney magic into the kitchen. And this lemon square recipe is ALL OVER the web. The same, exact recipe. The thing about it is, it's fatally flawed. The lemon curd part calls for a cup, A CUP, of butter. Most curds don't have any butter. I also calls for 1/2 an egg yolk; that's right, 1/2, whereas most recipes for lemon curd have several whole eggs. Not to mention the fact that there is no flour in it at all. I was skeptical about it, but I've never made these from scratch before, and butter is almost always better. Look at Paula Dean's recipes. But even as I was mixing it up, I knew it wasn't right.

My suspicions were confirmed. When it came out of the oven it was a liquid mess. The cookie crust was floating on a bubbling puddle of butter. It would never look (or taste) right, even after it cooled. And even Mr. Photos From The Parks couldn't salvage it. If HE can't make it work, then it's not going to. Period. Perhaps the most disappointing thing was the entire cottage's expectation for lemon bars, down the drain.

I do plan on asking for the recipe the next time we are at the Crystal Palace, just to see if it really is what they are giving out. (I desperately want to think that someone just transposed some ingredients or something.) If you happen to get there before I do and find the recipe, I'd love it if you'd pass it along to us. Until next time, may all your days be filled with fairy dust!