Gooey Lemon Slice Recipe

I first had these on a very rainy day in a little café in Dublin called ‘The Cake Café’. It was a dreamy little place hidden down a back street, a good walk away from where we were staying, but it was so worth it!

We had these with a big pot of tea (in vintage china cups, on brightly patterned tablecloths) with a comforting bowl of Stew and homemade crusty bread. It was heaven! So I was ecstatic when they released a recipe book a few years later. This is my very slightly adapted version that’s been very popular on market stalls over the years.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Gooey Lemon Slice Ingredients

For the Shortbread Base:

• 250g Plain Flour
• 250g Butter (from fridge)
• 100g Icing Sugar
• ¼ teaspoon Salt
• 2 Lemons zested

For the Lemon Topping:

• 300g Caster Sugar
• 4 Eggs
• 2 Lemons zested
• 100ml Lemon Juice
• 50g Plain Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder

Method to make a Gooey Lemon Slice

Make the cake:

1. Grease and line a 9” square tin
2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until a fine crumb
3. Press crumbs firmly and evenly into the tin and level out with the back of a spoon
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly golden

Make the lemon topping:

1. Beat the Eggs, Sugar and Lemon zest with the beater attachment (or bowl and whisk) until a pale bubbly foam appears on top when you turn the mixer off (about 20 sec on high speed). Be careful not to over beat, it’s not meant to be meringue
2. Sift in the Baking Powder and Flour, then fold into Egg mix
3. Fold through the Lemon juice
4. Pour on top of the cooked base
5. Cook again for approximately 35-40 minutes until set and no wobble in the middle
6. When cool, dust with icing sugar and cut into 12.

Enjoyed this recipe? Check out my other recipes on my blog.