When Jamie and I were chatting about what our next recipewould be, he said that we should do a lemon curd recipe. To which I then looked at him like "huh"?
If I'm being brutally honest, I had no idea really what lemon curd was, what it tasted like or how it's used. Well let me tell you, I can now say that I LOVE lemon curd.
If you're like how I was and you're not 100% what lemon curd is, simply put, it's a spread or topping used for desserts or even breakfast items. Think, apple butter. Lemon curd was originally called lemon cheese because the acidity from the lemon juice was literally used to separate the curds from the whey in cream.
It's such an amazing topping and our recipe makes for the perfect, velvety-smooth texture that is achieved through combining sugar and butter with eggs and lemon cooking it slowly over a gentle double-boiler until the eggs coagulate. It is basically an intense lemon-flavored custard without the cream.
Despite its palatability and versatility, lemon curd seems to be one of the forgotten breakfast condiments. Everyone talks about jams, jellies and butters but curds never seem to be viewed in the same light. Perhaps it is because of how intimidating making it can be.
But really, the intimidation is in no way justified. The recipe consists of 5 simple ingredients:
While perhaps not the preferred method, you can eat lemon curd by itself like I do (told you that I am now obsessed), you can spread it on toast like you would with apple butter or berry jam, you can bake it into pastries such as lemon bars or danishes, you can use it to make pies such as lemon meringue pie or you can even serve it on french toast or pancakes. The options are plentiful!
The procedure may be even less complicated than getting the ingredients together. Basically, you put everything into a heatproof bowl and cook it over a double-boiler or DIY your own, on a medium heat while stirring continually. Once the mixture reaches 170 F, you cool it down and are good to go
If you don't know what a double-boiler is, it's essentially a pot and pan in one, in which a more shallow pan sits inside a saucepan. It's used to cook things gently and you'll see it being used for dessert recipes, such as melting chocolate. It's so easy to make your own double boiler though by simply using a heatproof bowl and sitting it on top of your pot with water.
Let us know how you used this lemon curd recipe! Did you eat it with a spoon like I did??
Cheers and eat well!
A velvety smooth, egg-enriched lemon curd that can be used for various sweets and breakfast dishes.
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