Lemon Curd Recipe

When you stroll into my kitchen at 10 p.m. on any given night, chances are high you’ll discover me at my kitchen counter consuming spoonfuls of lemon curd straight out of the jar. Creamy, tart, and simply candy sufficient, it satisfies my need for dessert after I don’t really feel like cooking. And after I do really feel like whipping up dessert, the condiment is simply as helpful. I exploit it to fill thumbprint cookies and tart shells, pour it on prime of a buttery crust to make lemon bars, and dollop it onto crêpes, pancakes, and vanilla ice cream. Some mornings, I even swirl it into plain yogurt for breakfast. Past its deliciousness and flexibility, lemon curd can be fantastic for the way rapidly and simply it comes collectively, because the recipe I am sharing right here proves. 

Lemons “turned a star of the dessert world in Europe after the mid-seventeenth century, when sugar turned available at an inexpensive value,” in response to Lemon: A World Historical past by Toby Sonneman. A preferred technique to take pleasure in lemons was within the type of a custard, which Sonneman says was ultimately referred to as a curd. Cooks crammed muffins and pies with lemon curd, and diners loved the condiment with their scones, crumpets, and toast, amongst different starchy delights.

A fast look at recipes from centuries previous reveals that there have been some ways to organize lemon curd. Some had been nearer to that of an precise curd: In Charles Carter’s 1730 The Full Sensible Prepare dinner, a recipe for lemon curd instructs readers to “chip two or three lemons” right into a quart of cream or milk, let stand in a single day, boil, “flip it with the juice of lemons,” then pressure out the curd earlier than incorporating sugar and orange-blossom water if that’s the case desired. Different recipes, just like the one in Elizabeth David’s 1984 An Omelette and a Glass of Wine, advocate crumbling ladyfingers or floor almonds into the curd earlier than cooking to assist thicken the combination.

One other attention-grabbing methodology seems in Might Byron’s 1917 Puddings Guide. Byron’s recipe is maybe the only I’ve come throughout, and entails plopping butter, three egg yolks, lemon juice and zest, and sugar right into a jar, sealing it, then cooking it in a saucepan of boiling water till thickened.

Most recipes right now, nevertheless, are nearer to that of a custard by which you cook dinner lemon juice, eggs, sugar, and butter collectively—both immediately in a saucepan or utilizing a double boiler—till it’s lusciously thick. Some recipes are fussier than others, with some calling for blenders, a gradual cooker, and even an electrical mixer. You actually don’t want all of these devices for an excellent lemon curd, although—and with my ideas beneath, you’ll be capable of whip up a velvety lemon curd that has simply the appropriate stability of candy and tart.

7 Ideas for Making Higher Lemon Curd

Use each lemon juice and zest. Lemon peels include many flavorful oils, so utilizing them along with lemon juice not solely helps you employ as a lot of the fruit as attainable, however produces a curd with a extra pronounced citrus taste. 

Toss your lemon zest with sugar. Rapidly macerating the zest with sugar helps to attract out the rind’s oils, releasing their vibrant, citrusy taste and aroma. It’s the identical method I exploit in my strawberry lemonade and what number of cooks and bartenders put together oleo-saccharum, a lemon syrup made by muddling fruit’s peels with sugar.

Use freshly squeezed lemon juice. It could be tempting to succeed in for bottled lemon juice—as a result of, sure, a complete cup of recent lemon juice is quite a bit to squeeze out by hand—however it’s completely value utilizing recent lemons. A lot of the curd’s taste comes from the juice, and also you’ll get probably the most vibrant taste from recent citrus.

Add a number of yolks for richness. Some recipes for curd name for complete eggs, others name for simply yolks, and but others name for a mixture of complete eggs and yolks. As a result of yolks are plentiful with fats, they yield a curd that’s each richer in taste and texture. Nonetheless, curds made with simply yolks are typically thicker and have a extra pronounced egginess, however utilizing a mixture of complete eggs and yolks means you get a easy curd that permits the flavour of the citrus to shine.

Whisk properly. Some pastry cooks are staunchly towards whisking curd, as they imagine that whisking would aerate the curd an excessive amount of. I haven’t discovered that to be true, and nonetheless swear through the use of a whisk, as it’s a extra environment friendly technique to stir and reduces the danger of your eggs cooking too rapidly and curdling your curd. Whisk slowly and continuously, and also you received’t have to fret about lumps or by accident aerating your lemon curd.

Prepare dinner over direct warmth and pressure after cooking. Many individuals swear by cooking their lemon curd in a double boiler, as they imagine it prevents lumpy, overcooked curd, however I want to cook dinner mine over direct warmth as a result of it’s extra simple and, so long as you proceed stirring and keep away from cranking the warmth, your curd can be simply high quality. And if a number of small lumps of cooked egg do kind, straining is an additional precaution that may assure two issues: a silky easy curd and peace of thoughts.

Don’t be afraid of the salt. As I usually say, desserts want seasoning, too! A contact of salt brings the whole lot collectively and highlights the nuances of the lemons, eggs, and butter. There can be no salty curd, I promise—simply well-seasoned curd that tastes precisely because it’s alleged to: candy, tangy, and scrumptious sufficient that you simply’ll wish to eat it straight from the jar.