It's so funny that given how easy this recipe is, I almost never make it. It's even funnier, that I'll run to the grocery store every now and then to grab some ingredient or the other for a fancy dish that I decide to make, while the ingredients for a lemon curd are so basic and so less, and the resultant product, which is the curd!! is so damn tasty, and can be used in so many different ways. Lemon curd is sweet, tangy and there's nothing about it that you won't love.
Now you can definitely replace the lemons with the same number of oranges or grapefruit, or any other citrus fruit that you fancy. Or you can try to mix two fruits together and experiment with the flavors. This recipe is the most forgiving recipe on this planet. Lemon curd can be used in so, so many different ways. You can pipe it inside cupcakes, or make a layer of it between two cake sheets. You can spread it over a warm toast in the morning, or pipe them between two macarons. Or my favorite! eat it as is, a spoon full of sweet, lemony sunshine at a time!!
My recipe uses eggs, and if you want to make eggless lemon curd, then use two cups of milk with four tablespoon of corn starch instead of the egg yolks.
Let's talk about the tools you need to make this curd. You'll need a zester or a grater with very fine mesh. You will also need a good sauce pan which is non stick and has thick walls. Apart from this, you need to have a sieve, to sift the curd through it at the end, to get an extremely smooth texture. And last, but not the least, you need good mason jars to store the curd.
So let's make it!! Easiest recipe ever, made in a total of, 15 minutes max!
Step 1 : Gather your ingredients : -
Lemons - 2 medium sized
Zest these two lemons to get all of the lemon zest
Then juice the lemons to get 100 ml of lemon juice. Mine came out to be around 110ml, which was fine, I used all of it.
Sugar - 200 gm
Butter - 113 gm - keep it refrigerated until you need it
Yolks of 6 eggs (If making without eggs, then use 2 cups of milk and 4 tablespoon of corn starch)
Step 2 : In a sauce pan, mix the yolks (or milk and cornstarch), sugar and the lemon zest and whisk them together with a metal whisk.
Step 3 : Whisk in everything together until it all looks a bit pale, kind of like a light yellow color, the color of a lemon basically. At the same time, you are trying to dissolve some of that sugar.
Step 4 : Now gradually pour in the lemon juice, and whisk it in too.
Step 5 : Now put this sauce pan on heat, and then on low heat, keep whisking this mixture, until it starts to thicken and bubble up.
Step 6 : After about 4 minutes, this mixture should start to thicken up and small bubbles will start to rise. A good way to test this is, if you put a wooden spoon into it, the curd should cling to it, like so, and shouldn't drip off of it.
Step 7 : Once the curd is thick, and bubbling, take it off heat right then, and start adding your cold cubed butter to it, while whisking it in.
Step 8 : Sieve this curd, to get rid of any cooked egg yolks and the lemon rind.
Step 9 : You will see, that super smooth and creamy lemon curd is pouring through.
You can leave the curd in this bowl if you are planning to use it immediately in a cake or a cupcake. Make sure to let it cool while covered with a plastic wrap, with the plastic wrap touching the surface of curd, so that no skin is formed. Otherwise you can transfer this curd into clean mason jars and keep them in the fridge, and it should remain good for 1-2 weeks. You can also freeze the curd, and it should remain good for months.
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