Cometh the sour... T

Phone: Website: www.omiswheretheheartis.co.uk Opening hours: Food served everyday 10am-4pm every day seven days a week. Bar open until 10pm SundayThursday, 11pm Friday and Saturday. Children: Yes Disabled access: The bill: Would you go back? HIS week, a return to baking, and something nice and easy, in addition to being terribly satisfying and utterly delicious.

We’re making lemon squares, a recipe I’ve had in my notebook for ages, and have finally got around to trying.

There’s something super-comforting about the smell of a lemon-y something baking away in the warm kitchen, especially at this time of year, as memories of summer fade and we feel we need some citrussy cheerfulness.

It could be a super-sharp classic lemon tart, all wobbly and ready for its thin caramel coating. It might be a soft, pillowy lemon drizzle cake waiting to be drenched in tart syrup and iced.

Or it could be a light, airy soufflé, intoxicating in its freshness, requiring no more than a dusting of icing sugar before being pierced by one’s spoon, releasing all that wonderful lemony steam.

The little lemon is one of the most undervalued ingredients in the kitchen, and we should pause for a moment to give it the credit it deserves.

It’s one of the fruits most likely to be in any kitchen, whether it’s waiting to be sliced and plonked into that lovely big post-work gin and tonic, or squeezed over a sizzling fillet of suppertime fish (try grilling or roasting the lemon halves until they’re well-charred for a wonderful new flavour experience).

That lemon might be waiting to be halved and pushed into the depths of an oven-ready chicken, to steam its way into the flesh as the bird roasts.

Or it might be there just to add sharpness to a sauce, a soup, or a dressing.

The humble lemon blesses everything with a touch of sunny, flavour-enhancing magic, and when used as a major ingredient, it’s a real star in its own right.

These lemon squares are a baking classic; really simple to put together, but incredibly satisfying.

A simple biscuit-y base, all richly buttery and flecked with warming notes of vanilla, is baked with a sharp lemon custard-y topping which sets into a soft, smooth layer.

It’s a good recipe to try with the younger members of the family, due to its simplicity, whilst still showing off a few of the basic techniques, and I guarantee the finished squares will not hang around for long.