6 May 2010

Cooking - Lemon Curd


This recipe has been on my to do list for ages, and I don't know why I didn't get round to it sooner because it is so easy to make.

I had never tried lemon curd before I made this batch, it was something that mainly passed me by. And I had some bad memories of a school friend who used to take lemon curd sandwiches to school every day.
But now I am thinking this is not such a bad thing - lemon curd can really go with anything because it is amazing stuff - you know on a crumpet, in sandwiches, a spoonful on a freshly baked cake, or you know just straight out of the jar. That is ok right?

netbooks are very useful for cooking

This will probably take you all of half an hour to 45 minutes to make. The main thing this recipe requires is patience and attention, you need to be on hand to whisk the mixture at regular intervals so that the eggs don't overcook.

Makes about 500g
recipe adapted from nami-nami (my new favourite blog!)

125ml lemon juice - about 2-3 lemons
zest of two unwaxed lemons (about tablespoon)3 large eggs plus one yolk - i was lucky enough to have double yolked eggs from the farm shop so my lemon curd is a little richer.150g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter, softened and cubed

Juice and zest your lemons.
Add to a heatproof bowl (you'll need to set this over a simmering pan of boiling water later) with the caster sugar and the eggs, combine.

Heat over a saucepan with about 1 inch of boiling water in it. Whisk every 30 seconds, your mixture should take between 10 - 20minutes to thicken up, you want the consistency of thick pancake batter.

Take off the heat once it has reached the right consistency, then whisk in your butter and zest.

Pour in to sterilised jam jars (sterilise by washing in hot soapy water and then leaving in a low oven for 30 minutes. Store in the fridge, it should keep for a couple of weeks.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lemon curd is the best, and yes it's perfectly acceptable to eat it direct from the jar. In fact I think it's probably illegal not to. :)

Quietly Otaku said...

Looks great! I hadn't tried lemon curd until I made my mums birthday cake last year. I was surprised how good it tasted!