Luscious Lemon Curd

As much as I love anything British, I never reached for a jar of lemon curd at the market. Making it from scratch was even more improbable, that is until last night.

It was an ordinary evening, like so many. After dinner, we cleared the table and ran Daisy’s bath. While she was singing and playing with bubbles, I plopped onto my fav orange couch with the latest issue of Bon Appétit.

I flipped through the pages until I landed on a photo of a blue plate with a blue spoon tucked into a dollop of lemony cream with berries. For days, all I could think about was a big bowl of fresh berries and spoonfuls of that silky sweet-tart goodness. So I made it. Now I’m done for and so are you, I hope.

This lemon curd recipe is wonderful for many reasons, not the least of which are its beautiful taste and smooth texture. Enjoy a big bowl with fresh berries for dessert, or, even better, breakfast! If you’re watching your figure, have a big bowl of berries with a dollop of lemon curd on top.  Slather it between layers of moist lemon meringue cake to make tea time an event.  Leftovers, if any, can be tossed into the freezer to transform into ice cream or just enjoyed on crisp toast with tea for breakfast.

Traditionally, lemon curd is made with yolks only, but here, whole eggs are used, so nothing is wasted and you get some protein in the mix. The instructions are easy and fun, especially to enlist help from little hands. It can be made 2 days in advance, saving time (and reducing stress) when planning a party.

Luscious Lemon Curd

Adapted from Nick Nutting, Wolf in the Fog
Makes: 2 cups
Prep: 20 mins
Chill: 2 hrs

Ingredients
2 Tb finely grated lemon zest
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
6 large free-range eggs
Pinch of salt
1 cup (2 sticks) very cold butter, cubed

Instructions
Cut butter into little cubes and return to the fridge.

Grate lemon zest and add to a bowl.
Collect the juice in a saucepan.
Add sugar and set over medium-high heat.
Cook just until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

Whisk lemon zest, eggs, and salt.

Continue whisking and very patiently drizzle the hot lemon syrup over the eggs.
Set over medium-high heat and continue whisking until the mixture thickens, ~ 5 mins.

Drop cold cubes of butter into mixture and stir until melted.

Strain lemon curd through a sieve into a glass or plastic bowl.
Cover and transfer to the fridge.
Chill at least 2 hours.

It will keep up to 2 days.

There are so many ways to enjoy lemon curd and the homemade stuff is just amazing. Daisy loves to just take a spoon to it, but I’d rather put it in my newfound favorite cake (recipe coming soon!). Serve naked with fresh berries, on toast, as ice cream or nestled between layers of a cake. Whatever you decide, make sure to get a taste.