Lemon Curd

 

I must admit, I have never been a fan of lemon curd. The mere name of it sounds somewhat off-putting. The first time I ever made it, I was sure I'd done something wrong. It tasted awful and was destined for the trash. I purchased a store-bought version to see what it was "supposed" to taste like. To my surprise, it tasted exactly like the lemon curd I prepared the day before. Since then, I have omitted the curd from every lemon cake recipe I have tried. 

While preparing for a wedding consultation earlier this week, I came across a lemon cake recipe that included lemon curd (of course). Sometime had passed since my fiasco with the previous lemon curd recipe, so I was willing to give it another go. I was not very optimistic, but I followed the recipe to a T and hoped for the best...

Wow ! I am proud to announce that I am definitely a fan of the curd now. The couple at the cake tasting seemed to enjoy it, as well. They chose the lemon cake (& curd) for one of their wedding cake tiers. This recipe is great on more than just cakes. Use it with toast for breakfast, blend it into some vanilla ice cream, or eat it straight out of the jar (trust me, you'll be tempted to).

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (about 3 lemons)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 large egg yolks

Directions:

1. In a medium heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, combine butter, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and egg yolks. Cook and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until butter is melted and mixture is thickened, about 7 to 10 minutes.  Do not allow mixture to boil or the egg yolks will curdle. Remove from heat.

2. Immediately pour the hot mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out the lemon zest and any pieces of egg that may have curdled. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate at least 4 hours or over night. The curd will continue to thicken as is cools.