FoodRecipe

Eternal Sunshine of the Lemon Kind

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Lemon Curd is the closest that we have to sunshine in a jar, don’t you
think? It’s sweet and tart and adds a delicious zing to many desserts. Layer it
in a cake or top your breakfast pancakes with it. Or serve it along with scones
for a variation on the English Cream Tea.
Fill up little tart shells with it or use it as an éclair filling. Or simply
slather it on toast! It’s such a versatile spread and it’s very easy to make. I
have waxed eloquent about lemons in one of my earlier posts and it’s true – I just can’t get enough of them! I
have used Nigel Slater’s recipe to
make this lemon curd and as he says “my kitchen came alive with the stinging
hit of freshly grated lemons”!
I posted a picture of the
lemon curd on Twitter and it got a stamp of approval from the man himself 🙂

This recipe makes about
100gm of lemon curd.

You’ll need:
  • Zest and Juice of 5 Lemons
  • 200gm powdered Sugar
  • 100gm unsalted Butter
  • 3 medium Eggs + 1 Egg Yolk

How to:

  • Boil water in a pan and
    then set it to simmer. Place a bowl above it, taking care that the bottom doesn’t
    touch the water. Put the lemon zest, juice, sugar and butter in this bowl.

    • This is a bain-marie / double boiler technique. Two things to remember – the water in the
      pan must be simmering, not cold and the bowl should be set above
      the pan of hot water, not in it.
  • Stir gently with a whisk
    till the butter has melted.
  • Mix the eggs and the egg
    yolk together and add to the lemon mixture.
  • Allow the curd to cook,
    stirring regularly. It will take about 10 minutes to turn into a thick
    custard-like curd.
  • Remove from the heat and
    cool, stirring occasionally.
  • Transfer to a jar and
    refrigerate. It will keep for a couple of weeks, if it’s not polished off
    earlier!!

I used the lemon curd to
make a Lemon Curd Layer Cake.

 

I have
posted a recipe for a Lemon Cake earlier. I merely slit the cake horizontally,
slathered on the lemon curd in between the layers, made a lemon frosting to
top it off and ‘garnished’ with some lemon zest. It was a delicious lemony treat, perfect for a potluck dinner.

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