Lemon curd is utterly delicious and worth making from scratch. It’s incredibly easy to make, although I confess that the first time I made it I had no idea that the curd was setting as I was stirring it over the heat, and panicked thinking that the eggs were scrambling. Don’t panic when you feel the curd thickening; it is just setting into the delicious curd we know and love so well.
You can use a double boiler to make fruit curds if you wish, but I no longer do; now I just put everything in a heavy-bottomed pan and place it directly over very low heat. The curd comes together and tastes delicious, so I don’t feel as though my method loses anything. In fact, you gain time because this method is less fussy.
You can use lemons or meyer lemons or limes for this recipe, and possibly even oranges or grapefruits; I haven’t tried it with oranges or grapefruit, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t work. Citrus is delicious (and if you cannot or will not eat it, I am utterly sympathetic and horrified in turn, because why wouldn’t you?). My love for citrus is well documented in this blog; remember these muffins? And this cake?
Christmas is coming and I’m considering some sort of Christmas themed posts; I may bake Christmas cookies and make a spiced cake, or I may be a little more ambitious and try something else. Either way, you’ll know; I’ll keep you updated. I think it’s easy to overwhelm ourselves at Christmas, but it’s not hard (hopefully) to stay on top of things provided you’re sensible and don’t try to do too much. If you bite off more than you can chew just step back and be firm with yourself. I think that having an idea beforehand – and making a list – helps more than you could know.
I hope that you make this lemon curd, and that you love it. Once it’s done you can bottle it in a clean bottle and then stash it in the fridge. Let me know how it went in the comments.
Lemon curd recipe adapted from Blossom to Stem.
Ingredients
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
8 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter
Method
1) Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until thoroughly combined.
2) Add the lemon juice and set over very low heat (it should be in the lowest setting); stir again, whisking constantly all the while. The mixture will start to thicken after about six minutes. (Don’t panic; it’s supposed to.)
3) Whip it off the heat and stir in the butter until it melts. Allow it to cool before transferring your curd to glass bottles. Store in the fridge; it keeps for a few weeks.
Mmm, I do love me some lemon curd.
A few things:
– When you say ‘thoroughly combined’ eggs & sugar, are you talking weak peaks (not the true ones from egg whites obviously), or more when it starts to look bubbly, or…?
– The list calls for cold butter, but 3) says stir in melted butter; Should it be melted and then left to cool while you cook the egg mixture?
– How much does 8 tablespoons of butter weigh? (The odds of me accurately measuring 8 tbsp of butter aren’t high).
– How much curd does this make?
– Would this work if I substituted the butter for Nuttelex or some other non-dairy thing? Or would it need the animal fats (or something) from the butter?
Of course after all that, I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to make any. My stove currently doesn’t really have a ‘low’ setting, the two small burners don’t work. I melt chocolate by holding the pot a foot above the stove top XD
It’s the best! Okay, so it won’t peak because it’s whole eggs as opposed to egg whites. You just need to whisk it until the sugar is thoroughly combined. It will be glossy. It’s basically ready when you can no longer see the sugar crystals. Oh, and oops; I meant to type stir in the butter until it melts (I’ve corrected that now).
Don’t worry about measuring in too much or too little. Rough measurements for butter will do. It makes two and a half jars (not very accurate, I know, but 2.5 of the jar you see in the photo). You can halve this recipe if you want less. I made more because I’m going to be using some in an upcoming recipe!
I’ve never tried substituting butter, but I think you’d need to use butter because it does need that fat element to it at the end.
Thanks for the quick & helpful reply! I really want to make this now. (And by that I mean I want someone else to make it so I can just eat it without effort…)
Yeah, I thought it might need real butter. But I’m unlikely to ever be making curd for any of my lactose intolerant friends anyway.
I have a friend who makes a gluten free & lactose free lemon cheesecake that serioudly tastes JUST like a real cheesecake. I don’t know how she does that.
Oh yum! Yeah, there are some amazing GF and dairy free recipes out there!