Ingredients
150g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
4 large egg yolks (70g)
1 large egg (50g)
Lemon juice from 5-6 large lemons (3/4 cup or 170g)
113g unsalted butter, cut into 2cm cubes, chilled
1 tsp vanilla extract
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Summary
The trees are heaving, it’s time to make lemon curd! This luscious, zingy spread can be dolloped on pancakes, scones, cakes, greek yoghurt, vanilla ice cream – or baked into the perfect afternoon treat, lemon tart. It’ also a great gift idea for the sour sweet tooth people in your life!
Lemon Curd
Add the sugar, salt and lemon zest to a saucepan (heavy based is best for even cooking), and using your fingers, massage until the mixture is slightly orange, the zest is evenly distributed.
Add egg yolks and whole egg to the pan and whisk vigorously for about a minute, until the sugar is fully incorporated – be careful to get right into the edge of the pan. Add the lemon juice and whisk again until combined.
Place pan on the stove over a medium heat and whisk continuously for about 5 minutes, until the mixture thickens to resemble hollandaise sauce, and the whisk leaves a slight trail. If you have a thermometer, the temp should read 170 C., we didn’t have one so instead, we stirred the curd with a wooden spoon and then ran our finger through it, if the sauce clings to the spoon and your finger leaves a clear trail, it’s ready.
Take the pan off the heat and whisk in one cube of butter at a time, allowing each one to dissolve before adding another. Finally, add the vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
Transfer curd into a jar and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top so it is touching the surface, (this prevents a skin from forming on top). The curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Once totally cool (around 3 hours), the plastic wrap can be removed.
Strictly speaking, curd lasts about 2 weeks in the fridge, but truthfully, we’ve eaten curd that’s been made months prior and survived.
Transform this curd into tart with this recipe!
