Lemon curd

Reading food blogs and cookbooks is wonderful. But it can also be devastating for a curious person like me. I won’t rest until I make/try something new... And lemon curd was absolutely new to me.

Lemon curd is not part of our food habits here in Brazil and I had not known about it until I started blogging. Being the citrus freak that I am, it immediately caught my attention. No lemon curd in grocery stores around here?? No problem – off to the kitchen to make some.

I had some egg yolks left from the Zuger Kirschtorte and, with Rose Levy’s book on one hand and some beautiful lemons on the other, I was determined to taste what my fellow foodies loved so much.

It was... Sublime. I would never have thought that something so delicious would come up from mixing only eggs, butter and lemons. I want to use it as a cake filling, too.

It says on the recipe that the curd can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks, but I think that after the first week the flavor was a little off, kind of eggy.

Lemon curd
from The Cake Bible

4 large egg yolks
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) sugar
3 fl oz (93ml or about 2 ½ large lemons) lemon juice, freshly squeezed
4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter, softened
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan beat the yolks and sugar until well blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients except the lemon zest. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and resembling a thin hollandaise sauce, which thickly coats a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour. The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and being to take on a yellow color on the back of wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. Whenever steam appears, remove briefly from heat, stirring constantly to keep from boiling. When the curd has thickened, pour at once into a strainer. Press with the back of a spoon until only coarse residue remains; discard the residue. Stir in the lemon zest and cool – more sugar can be added to taste while the curd is still warm, but I did not think it was necessary.
Pour into an airtight container. The curd will continue to thicken while resting and chilling.

Makes 1 full cup