Scour Pinterest for Lemon Curd recipes, of course!

Every one of us who are out there busy living, learning and challenging, will find ourselves at one point with one, two or a tree full of lemons – hopefully, delightful Meyer lemons, but usually just the yellow ellipsoidal kind.

There are lots of lemon recipes out there for cleaning, healing but mostly consuming….
Lemon, *Ade (including the classic Arnold Palmer or cowboy punch), *Drops (spirited and hard candy), *Butter, *Cheesecake, *Sorbet, * Poppy Seed Cake, *Curd, *Meringue, *Pepper, *Lavender shortbread, *Bars, *Cookies, *Tarts, *Trifle, Lulu*, *Pie, *Cupcakes, *Tarts, *Pudding, *Pound cake, *Syrup, *Marmalade, *Granita, Preserved*, *Cello, Candied*, *Rind, *Currant Scones, *Macaroons, *Scampi, *Gumbo (just kidding, checkin’ if you are still reading)

But I love love love lemon-y desserts, and today, with my particular serving of life lemons, I needed something more challenging than lemonade, but simple enough to let the lemons shine for what they are: Tart, palette cleansing and all-round citrusy. Hence, I opted to try my hand at curd. It’s been on my list and a great way to use our fresh eggs and use the overnight chill time, to do some of my own processing and chilling.

I settled for a blend of a few recipes set to my taste. Inspiration from foodinjars.com and portugesegirlcooks.com – Thank you!

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks (Thank you, as always, to my trusty backyard layers!)
  • Don’t toss the whites! See my remedy for extra egg whites (macaroons)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 Meyer lemons, zested then sliced in half to be juiced (just trust me on the order)
  • Goal: a haystack of zest and generous ½ cup of juice
  • Make sure to strain it, to ensure you get all the seeds
• 1 stick of butter, cut into chunks, don’t be shy

Instructions

1. In a small sauce pan over low to medium heat, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar.  I put the sugar in first then added yolks on top
2. Add the lemon juice and switch to stirring with a wooden spoon, so as not to whisk air into the curd. At this point, I highly recommend getting your husband, who is likely watching golf on the sofa to come and stir continually for 10-15 minutes
3. Be sure to adjust the heat as so that it does not boil. The goal is NOT to scramble you eggs
4. The curd is done when it has thickened and coats the back of the spoon. Run your finger across the back of the spoon, horizontally, lick it and then also see if the curd runs down or the line stays visible
5. Drop in the butter chunks and stir until melted
6. Position a fine mesh sieve or strainer over a bowl and pour the curd through it, to remove any bits of cooked egg
7. Whisk in the zest
8. Pour the curd (a single batch will make about one pint of curd) into your prepared jars,
   • If you plan on canning, foodinjars.com recommends the following: leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Process them in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes It is best to process only in half-pint jars or smaller, as they allow better heat infiltration.  While shelf-stable, these won’t last as long as say my blackberry jam ….
   • I didn’t end up canning this, I am pretty confident it is not going to last very long
9. Eat on scones, stirred into yogurt (here is an easy recipe for making your own) or shovel straight from the jar with a spoon

Here are the results –

Am I in a better way? This recipe wasn’t as complicated as others have implied. I am headed in the right direction with my life lemons, just going to take maybe a little more sugar and time, to make something great.

What is your favorite lemon curd recipe and memory?

What do you do when life hands you lemons?