Baking Experiments - Orange Squares

'kay, this one was a real experiment, and turned out quite well. I feel like it's the beginning of something (perhaps the much longed for citrus tart....mmmm citrus tart), so more experimentation will take place in the long term.

Again, I started from a base recipe from vegweb. This time it was Time-Warp Lemon Squares, a popular and well commented upon recipe.

Original Recipe Ingredients

Crust:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons margarine
1 cup all purpose flour
Filling:
3 egg substitutes
3/4 cup granulated sugar
zest and juice of two lemons
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon all purpose flour

ZB's Ingredients

Crust:
1/4 cup sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons Nuttelex
1 cup self raising flour
Filling:
1/2 cup home made apple sauce
1/2 cup agave nectar
zest and juice of two oranges
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (man I've got to stop using that stuff - it's revolting! Vanilla beans from here on in...)
5 tablespoons self raising flour (I upped the flour to 5 tablespoons, due to the increase in wet ingredients via the agave nectar, but 4 is probably enough)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Combine crust ingredients and press into 8 by 8 inch pan (I used a loaf pan, which is about 20 cm by 7 cm). Put into the oven to bake for about 15 minutes. Take out and let cool for a little while.

Whilst the crust is baking, put the applesauce in a bowl, and add the rest of the wet ingredients. Add the flour tablespoon by tablespoon, until you have a creamy, pourable mix. Pour over the crust, and bake until set.

Let cool and slice into bars.

Here are my Orange Squares:



I would probably lose the vanilla flavour all together, and up the citrus flavour - maybe a mix of orange and lemon. The sweetness was just right, and the consistency of the filling was quite fudgey. I need to find a way to achieve the fudgey consistency without the floury taste - or lose the fudgeyness all together, and find a way to move towards more of a tart consistency.

I really liked these, and think that with some further experimentation and deciding on a recipe I'm happy with, I'm going to move these into my "special occasion" baking area of my brain. I'll update with changes to the recipe next time I make them!

So, try out the original, fiddle with my changes, do some fun baking and share and enjoy!