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Not really a dessert, but you can put it in tarts, yoghurt, cheesecake ;-) etc
So what the hell lol
The cream is optional. I generally add it if I'm going to further cook the curd in large or small tarts.
For pure lemon curd you don't need the cream. And in fact without the cream it's actually a fairly healthy spread (relatively speaking - relative to peanut butter and mayonaise anyway
)
Lemon curd recipe
You will need
3 oz castor (fine white) sugar
3 oz melted butter
3 large eggs or 4 medium/small
2 lemons - juice and zest (as fine as you can get it)
4-5 floz double/heavy cream (OPTIONAL)
1 large glass/pyrex bowl
big balloon whisk (works best but any food stirring thing will do the job)
A microwave oven
Method
Beat the eggs together in the bowl and whisk in the juice and zest of the lemons.
Add the sugar and whisk till dissolved.
whisk in the butter.
Cook in the microwave on High for 30-40 seconds (based on 900watt microwave). Then whisk vigorously for a few seconds.
Repeat, quick cook, whisk, quick blast cook, whisk etc. Until the mixture has thickened (doesn't matter if it boils) Takes about 10 mins with five minutes total microwave time, at the end of which it should be thick enough to hold it's shape for a short while. It'll thicken some more as it cools.
Pour into a couple of clean small glass jars and leave to cool.
That's it :-)
If you want to bulk it up for adding to tarts, add 4-5 fl0z of heavy cream before the butter.
Makes the best lemon curd I've ever had :-)
Lemon Curd Tarts
For the pastry:
4 oz plain/general purpose flour
4 0z self raising flour
4 oz cold butter cut small
pinch of salt
approx 1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg (optional)
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
Cold water.
Method:
Sift all the flour together into a large mixing bowl.
Add the salt and nutmeg and mix well.
add the butter and rub between your fingers untill you it resembles fine bread crumbs, the smaller the crumbs the better the pastry.
Add the lemon zest and mix in well.
Stirring with a fork add a little cold water. Keep stirring and adding small amounts of cold water till the dough begins to stick to gether into larger lumps. I've never measured, but I'd guesstimate maybe 1/4 - 1/3 cup cold water.
Once it starts lumping mix and knead with your hands, work it until you have a smooth dough - if it feels sticky add a little flour and work it. repeat till the dough is smooth and not sticky (and next time use less water ;-)
Leave the pastry to rest for about 30 mins.
divide in half and roll out on a floured surface. It will puff up quite a lot when cooked so roll it pretty thin - around 2-3 32ths of an inch or 2-3 mm.
Cut rounds and fit into cupcake tins.
Fill the cases about 2/3 full with the lemon curd mix.
Bake centre oven 375-400 for approx 35 minutes. Until the curd just starts to go brown.
Either eat hot or leave to cool and eat.
Additional:
In case you were wondering about the thing I was using for the lemon zest. Here's a close up of the actual 'holes'
It gives the finest zest and grated nutmeg, parmesan I've ever come across.
Made by a company called cuisipro from it's accutec kitchen rasp range of microplane graters. Cheaper than Microplane, but at least as good.
I'd recommend the set that has large grater, small grater and this ultra-fine grater.
Oh and they're made in the usa - so you should be able to get them pretty cheap ;-)
So what the hell lol
The cream is optional. I generally add it if I'm going to further cook the curd in large or small tarts.
For pure lemon curd you don't need the cream. And in fact without the cream it's actually a fairly healthy spread (relatively speaking - relative to peanut butter and mayonaise anyway
)Lemon curd recipe
You will need
3 oz castor (fine white) sugar
3 oz melted butter
3 large eggs or 4 medium/small
2 lemons - juice and zest (as fine as you can get it)
4-5 floz double/heavy cream (OPTIONAL)
1 large glass/pyrex bowl
big balloon whisk (works best but any food stirring thing will do the job)
A microwave oven
Method
Beat the eggs together in the bowl and whisk in the juice and zest of the lemons.
Add the sugar and whisk till dissolved.
whisk in the butter.
Cook in the microwave on High for 30-40 seconds (based on 900watt microwave). Then whisk vigorously for a few seconds.
Repeat, quick cook, whisk, quick blast cook, whisk etc. Until the mixture has thickened (doesn't matter if it boils) Takes about 10 mins with five minutes total microwave time, at the end of which it should be thick enough to hold it's shape for a short while. It'll thicken some more as it cools.
Pour into a couple of clean small glass jars and leave to cool.
That's it :-)
If you want to bulk it up for adding to tarts, add 4-5 fl0z of heavy cream before the butter.
Makes the best lemon curd I've ever had :-)
Lemon Curd Tarts
For the pastry:
4 oz plain/general purpose flour
4 0z self raising flour
4 oz cold butter cut small
pinch of salt
approx 1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg (optional)
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
Cold water.
Method:
Sift all the flour together into a large mixing bowl.
Add the salt and nutmeg and mix well.
add the butter and rub between your fingers untill you it resembles fine bread crumbs, the smaller the crumbs the better the pastry.
Add the lemon zest and mix in well.
Stirring with a fork add a little cold water. Keep stirring and adding small amounts of cold water till the dough begins to stick to gether into larger lumps. I've never measured, but I'd guesstimate maybe 1/4 - 1/3 cup cold water.
Once it starts lumping mix and knead with your hands, work it until you have a smooth dough - if it feels sticky add a little flour and work it. repeat till the dough is smooth and not sticky (and next time use less water ;-)
Leave the pastry to rest for about 30 mins.
divide in half and roll out on a floured surface. It will puff up quite a lot when cooked so roll it pretty thin - around 2-3 32ths of an inch or 2-3 mm.
Cut rounds and fit into cupcake tins.
Fill the cases about 2/3 full with the lemon curd mix.
Bake centre oven 375-400 for approx 35 minutes. Until the curd just starts to go brown.
Either eat hot or leave to cool and eat.
Additional:
In case you were wondering about the thing I was using for the lemon zest. Here's a close up of the actual 'holes'
It gives the finest zest and grated nutmeg, parmesan I've ever come across.
Made by a company called cuisipro from it's accutec kitchen rasp range of microplane graters. Cheaper than Microplane, but at least as good.
I'd recommend the set that has large grater, small grater and this ultra-fine grater.
Oh and they're made in the usa - so you should be able to get them pretty cheap ;-)
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