Lemon and thyme cake bars recipe

Our lemon and thyme cake bars have a buttery base and a rich gooey lemon curd topping. 

If you like a Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake, you’ll enjoy the flavours of this sophisticated bake. It’s got luxurious, rich lemon curd and a crunchy base which is delicately scented with lemon thyme. The lemon and thyme cake bars or squares can be served as dessert or enjoyed as an afternoon treat. They are also the perfect size to take on picnics or pack into lunchboxes. 

Ingredients

• 250g butter, softened
• 125g caster sugar
• 2tsp vanilla paste
• 2tbsp fresh lemon thyme
• 250g plain flour
• 2tbsp cornflour

For the lemon filling:

• 6 large eggs
• 400g caster sugar
• zest of 4 lemons, plus 240ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 150g plain flour
• Icing sugar, for dusting

Method

1. Line a 23x33cm baking tin with parchment. For the shortbread, cream the butter until pale, then add the sugar, vanilla and lemon thyme, and mix to combine. Sift the plain flour, cornflour and 1⁄4tsp salt together, and mix this into the butter until just combined. Turn out the dough, shape into a ball and then press flat into the baking tin. Chill for 20 minutes while you heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.
2. Bake the shortbread for 15 minutes before removing and leaving to cool.
3. For the filling, whisk the eggs and sugar together until smooth, then add the lemon zest and juice, and stir. Sift in the flour and mix. Pour the filling over the shortbread, return the tin to the oven and bake for a further 30 minutes, or until just set.
4. Leave to cool completely before dusting with icing sugar and slicing.

Top tips for making lemon and thyme cake bars

The thyme adds a delicate flavour which compliments the lemon beautifully but it will also be delicious if you leave it out. We like to finish the bars with a dusting of icing sugar and a little sprig of thyme for decoration. For tips on how to tell when the curd is set, read our tips below. 

When you need to squeeze lemons to extract the juice you can simply use your hand but food writer Jessica Ransom sweats by this cheap and effective kitchen gadget.

ProCook Lemon Reamer - View at ProCook

You can buy these little wooden reamers from a number of shops for just a couple of pounds. It sounds silly but food writer Jessica Ransom says: ‘Using a lemon reamer is an absolute game changer when juicing lemons, limes or oranges. You extract so much more juice than if you simply squeezed with your hand. It’s one of my favourite pieces of kitchen kit and it’s cheap and takes up hardly any space in my drawers.’

If you like a gooey dessert you should try our lemon pudding. It's wonderful with cream or custard and very easy to make. You might also like our lemon meringue slice which looks impressive as a dessert or our lemon creams which can be prepared ahead.