Thanks, @FrogPrincesse. I've passed your information along.
So the lemon bars were more of a success than I'd expected, but I learned a number of lessons on what not to do next time. First, the summary: the flavor of both the crust and the lemon filling / topping were good. I took the extra step of straining the custard before setting it in to bake, so I didn't have the lemon zest interfering with the smooth custard texture.
The custard was a bit bubbly, and not the bright yellow I'd have expected: it was more of a dirty daffodil color. I don't know why, but those bubbles probably had something to do with it. Did I overwhisk the filling? I dunno. So between that color and the extra-thick crust, which incidentally was a bit too brown around the edge, the entire assembly didn't look very promising when it came out of the oven.
This morning when I pulled it from the refrigerator the custard had cracked! I pressed down on it with a spatula to try to mend those cracks, and saw that the yellow became more intense. That's why I suspect I'd simply aerated the thing too much in the first place.
With that very firm and very thick crust, I worried that I really would need the parchment sling that I overlooked, in order to get the stuff out of the pan in one piece. I worked all around the edge with a knife, and then started cutting portions in order to get it out of the pan in serving-sized pieces. This is where the Quality Control taste tests began, of course.
The lemon layer didn't adhere very well to the pecan crust layer, as you can see in the lower right of the photo above. Still. That lemon filling is quite lemony and delicious. The pecan crust is pretty good too.
This was one of several desserts at a potluck party I attended today. I came back with only a few pieces left. I'll keep some, but as with my previous desserts try to foist most of it off on my landlords and neighbors.
And in case you need a refresher, this was a NYTimes recipe for Lemon Bars with Pecan Crust, by Lisa Donovan.
