Lemon, lime and coconut bars and good/bad additions

I know, I know, I’ve made lemon lime bars before (and those were delicious, by the way). But there’s a special addition to these: coconut in the crust, which works beautifully combined with the lemon/lime filling.

While some additions are wonderful – in the case of these bars – some are disastrous: who would have thought that a simple mustache could do that much harm? ;)

Lemon, lime and coconut bars
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Donna Hay magazine

Base:
2/3 cup (65g) shredded sweetened coconut
1 1/3 cups (185g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (90g) superfine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, cold and chopped

Lemon filling:
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 cups + 3 tablespoons (436g) superfine sugar
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (50g) all purpose flour
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
finely grated zest of 1 lime
½ cup (120ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup (120ml) freshly squeezed lime juice
icing sugar, to serve

Start by making the base: preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F; lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan, line with foil, leaving an overhang in two opposite sides, and butter the foil as well.
Place the coconut in the bowl of a food processor and process to chop the threads into smaller bits. Add the flour, superfine sugar, vanilla and butter and process until mixture comes together. Press in the base of the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Set aside.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/350°F. Make the lemon filling: place the eggs and yolks in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the superfine sugar, flour, lemon and lime zest and juices and whisk until smooth. Pour over the base and bake for 20-25 minutes or until just set. Remove from the oven, let cool completely in the pan over a wire rack then refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or until firm). Dust with icing sugar, cut into bars or squares and serve.

Makes 16