Lemon Curd

Introduce

Chef :

Joanne

Lemon Curd

This is bottled sunshine, a lovely way to brighten up a gloomy winter morning, or celebrate lemons the beginning of summer. It's easy to make, but you do have to stir constantly while it's cooking. Lots of recipes recommend doing this in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, as the indirect heat makes double-sure the eggs won't coagulate, but I'm an impatient cook and I do it directly in a heavy-based pan, on the lowest possible heat, and whisking at the beginning. Sieving it at the end will also mean no nasty bits end up in the jars.

Ingredient

lemons, washed if waxed

eggs

100 g

butter

350 g

caster sugar

Cooking instructions

* Step 1

Carefully grate just the yellow zest from the lemons, avoiding the white pith. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice.

* Step 2

Add the lemon zest, juice, sugar, butter and eggs to a heatproof bowl or to a large, heavy-based pan.

* Step 3

Place the bowl on top of a simmering pan or boiling water, or place the pan on a low heat, gently whisking as it the butter melts and sugar dissolves.

* Step 4

When the butter has melted and there's a little steam coming from the mixture, exchange the whisk for a wooden spoon. Keep stirring as the mixture slowly thickens. It takes a while, but the curd is ready when it sits on a plate and doesn't run. If you want to use the lemon curd as a cake filling, cook it for a little long as it will need to be stiff.

* Step 5

Sieve the curd into a clean bowl, then transfer to clean jars. Store in the fridge. Spread on toast or pancakes or use as a filling with whipped cream for a Victoria sponge cake. We also love it as a dessert, stirred through Greek yogurt.