I can’t help it – like a zillion other people out there, I associate spring with the colour yellow and the flavours of fresh citrus. Call it programming or just a craving for something refreshing and sunny and light after a grey winter spent mostly indoors…whatever it is, it’s had me in the kitchen making lemon curd. Twice in the last few days, actually. The first batch I made did not contain any egg whites and it had so much sugar in it my brain hurt after the first bite.
Lemon curd should taste like lemons…obviously.
So I changed a few things – the egg combo and the amount of sugar and the quantity of lemons. Pretty much everything, really. And I arrived at something that actually tasted like lemons, but not so zingy that you make weird faces while eating it. Unless you want to, that is.
So, here it is. It’s really good enough to eat straight out of the pan, which I may have done shamelessly did. You could also slather it on a cake or some cookies, or freeze it so you can eat it on some nebulous future midnight when you can’t sleep. (It’s good for up to two months in the freezer).
Lemon Curd (the not-too-sweet-tastes-like-lemons version)
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 small Meyer lemons, juiced (you could use 3 regular lemons instead)
2 to 3 tbsp unsalted butter
Prepare a double boiler. Place eggs, egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and whisk until smooth. Place the smaller pan into the double boiler and simmer at medium-low heat. Frequently whisk the contents. Don’t leave the kitchen for about ten minutes – the curd sets up all of a sudden and you don’t want to miss it when it does. When the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove the saucepan from the double boiler and stir in the butter until it is completely melted. Set the curd aside to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate it for at least 4 hours, then it’s ready to eat. This recipe makes about 1 to 1 1/2 cups.
Enjoy!
Do you have any recipes you particularly love to make in the spring?
Flowery Prose. 