Deer Tallow Lemon-Yuzu Bars
We’ve been doing a lot of experimentation with various wild fats. There is very, very little information on rendering and cooking with venison, beaver, and many other wild fats (the notable exceptions being bear and duck). So pretty much any time the opportunity comes up to try a baked recipe with wild fat, we just throw it in there and hope for the best. Incorporating and experimenting with wild fats has become a passion project. Any excuse to bake is an opportunity to learn something new.
The other day, Rachel texted me “weird craving for lemon bars” and I thought, “I've never made lemon bars”. I pulled some deer tallow to get it to room temperature and grabbed some ingredients. We didn't have enough lemons for a full cup of juice, so I used some yuzu juice that we had in the fridge.
The first go around, this recipe was one of the first ones where a 1:1 ratio of deer tallow for butter didn't work out 100%. The tallow didn't incorporate as well as the butter would have and there was a bit of runny fat on top after par baking the crust. The end product tasted great, but we could tell that there wasn't enough crust to soak up all the tallow. We adjusted the recipe by reducing the tallow and then got the results we wanted.
The crust was just right, and the filling was bright and tart. There were no off flavors or textures from the venison tallow we used. They were perfect. These things are a sugar bomb though- there is enough acid from the lemon and yuzu to hide the fact that the entire thing is mostly sugar, but be aware, they are tooth achingly sweet.
Venison Tallow Lemon-Yuzu Bars
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
Crust
¾ cup deer tallow, room temp (or 1 cup butter, room temp)
½ cup sugar
2 cups flour
Pinch of salt
Filling
6 large eggs
3 cups sugar
1.5 tbsp lemon zest
1 cup lemon and/or yuzu juice
1 cup flour
Method:
Preheat oven to 350F
Make the crust. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream tallow and sugar together until smooth. Add in remaining crust ingredients and mix until crumbly. Work into a ball and press evenly into a sheet pan. Chill for 15-20 minutes. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown. Allow to cool.
Make the filling. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix together eggs and sugar. Add in remaining ingredients slowly. Mix on low setting so as not to meringue the eggs. Once the ingredients are evenly mixed, pour into the cooled crust and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.
Allow the lemon bars to cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy the sugar high.
