to brighten up a cold, grey day
...I love to make lemon curd. Last night at our Craft Night, Rhiannon brought along some little pastry tarts with lemon curd inside, which reminded me of how good that stuff is in the middle of winter (or anytime, come to think of it.) We had a big bowlful of lemons on the kitchen bench from my parent's farm so I made a few jars.
I've been eating this and helping to make it, for as long as I can remember. My grandmother made it for us when we were really small, and I loved it so much I learned to make it too. Also we had a good grove of lemon trees surrounding our house which bore fruit all year round, and I think this is why lemons are my most-favourite fruit ever. The flavour, in my opinion, is second only to chocolate!
Here's how I make lemon curd (sometimes called 'lemon honey'):
5-6 lemons
125g butter
2 cups sugar
4 free-range eggs
Beat the eggs briskly with a whisk and set aside. Grate the rind from all the lemons and set aside, then squeeze them and strain the juice. Set up a double boiler (I use a saucepan inside/on top of a bigger one filled with water) and inside it melt the butter. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice, until sugar is dissolved. Then add the beaten eggs and lemon rind, stirring all the time. Adjust the heat of the double boiler so that the water is moderately bubbling, then cook the lemon curd, stirring well all the time) until it becomes quite thick. Pour into sterilised jars. (Makes about 2 large or 3 small jars)
Lime curd is also nice, if you ever have enough limes to extract the equivalent juice and rind from! I've also had it made with passionfruit and lemon which was super-yummy.
You can use it to sandwich plain cakes together, or eat it over vanilla icecream, or fold it through whipped cream, or bake it in little tarts...
but my favourite way to eat it is spooned onto hot buttered toast!
Yummmm...I'm gonna make some too - my lemon tree is overflowing right now.
xx Helen
Posted by: Helen | July 19, 2006 at 03:42 PM
oooo yum yum yum. I was just about to look for a recipe for something to do with a truckload of limes I have just been given, when I started checking out my blog feeds instead. Glad I did now :) Thank you!!!
Lemon tarts are my absolute favourite indulgence. Good ones even beat out chocolate treats!!
Posted by: susannah | July 19, 2006 at 05:35 PM
oh! yay! lemon curd is one of my favourite foods right now. I like to eat it by the spoonful!
Your recipe is a little diffrent to mine.. I shall try it out! : )
Posted by: rhiannon | July 19, 2006 at 06:05 PM
i love lemon curd on graham crackers with a roasted marshmellow or marshmello fluff and then topped with another graham cracker...like a lemon meringue pie s'more.
Posted by: mimulus | July 20, 2006 at 03:17 AM
YUM!! I will try it as soon as this long and very hot summer is over.
It isn't a common thing to eat in the Netherlands.
Posted by: elianne | July 21, 2006 at 06:35 AM
YUM!! I will try it as soon as this long and very hot summer is over.
It isn't a common thing to eat in the Netherlands.
Posted by: elianne | July 21, 2006 at 06:35 AM
Oh I haven't had lemon curd since I was a kid.
Posted by: weirdbunny | July 22, 2006 at 10:54 AM
This looks so good!
I've never made lemon curd but I'd love to try it.
Can you tell me how long it does keep? And have you ever tried to make half the recipe?
Posted by: Leena | July 26, 2006 at 06:15 AM
Would this be a good consistency for spooning into a lemon merangue pie ?
If not, could you give me a good recipe for Lemon Merangue Pie from scratch ?
Please ? :)
Posted by: MC | September 03, 2006 at 07:24 PM