...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!