When I sat down to write this post I originally started by saying that I made this lemon curd for a greater purpose – but that made me think, ‘isn’t the greatest purpose for a lemon curd to be eaten and enjoyed on its own?‘ A question that I cannot honestly answer because both on its own and as a filling or a spread, it is a wonderful thing.
I use lemon curd for a myriad of reasons, in cupcakes and pancakes, on scones, as a topping for cheesecakes and more recently I have been playing around with it and my ice cream machine. This recipe does not contain any additives, such as corn starch or gelatine (I shudder at the thought), it has a handful of old fashioned ingredients like eggs, butter, sugar and lemons, which is probably why it is so good.
The result is a sweet, tart and addictive curd that will have you eating most of it before you actually get it to its intended purpose – unless of course you are making it to eat with a spoon and if that is the case then all is well and good. Anyway, here it is, the best and the easiest lemon curd recipe by far.
Ingredients
¾ cup (200 mls) of fresh lemon juice (approx 5 lemons)
1 tablespoon of freshly grated lemon rind
¾ cup (185 grams) of sugar
3 eggs
125 grams of unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Place all ingredients in a medium sized saucepan. Cook over a medium low heat, whisking until thick enough to hold marks from the whisk and first bubbles appear on the surface, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat immediately and strain through a fine mesh sieve to seperate any egg particles. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate.
Notes: Some people swear by cooking their lemon curd over a double boiler, I have tried this a couple of time but do not see any difference to cooking it directly in the pot.
© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.
