Lemon squares recipe

These citrusy treats can be made as lemony as you like. With a creamy topping decorated with your favourite sweets, they're great for kids' parties, as they're beautifully decorated with colourful sweets. These tasty lemon squares take 20 mins to prepare and 25 mins to cook, so they're ready in under an hour. If you're making them for kids' party, maybe you can bake them the day before so they're ready when the kids start to arrive!

Ingredients

• 225g (8oz) unsalted butter
• 225g (8oz) caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• About 150ml (¼ pt) milk
• 250g (9oz) self-raising flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• Grated zest of 2 lemons
• 55g (2oz) sultanas

For the filling:

• 3-4tbsp good-quality lemon curd

For the frosting:

• 125g (4½ oz) mascarpone
• 250g (9oz) icing sugar
• 90g (3¼ oz) unsalted butter
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• 1-2tbsp lemon juice
• 1 drop of pink food colouring
• 1 pkt sweets (e.g. Dolly Mixtures), to decorate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4). Grease and line a 20cm (8in) square cake tin.
2. Put the butter and caster sugar in a food mixer and beat until pale and light. Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the milk. Sift in the flour and baking powder, add the lemon zest and sultanas and mix well.
3. Pour into the prepared cake tin and cook for 25-35 mins or until golden brown, or when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins before turning out on to a wire rack.
4. When cold, cut the cake in half horizontally. Spread one half with the lemon curd, then sandwich it back together.
5. Place all the ingredients for the frosting in a food processor and blend until smooth. Spread the frosting on top of the cake. Then cut into 16 squares and decorate with colourful sweets.