Originally posted on 7/22/2013
It's blueberry time, and it's always time for lemon curd. Not the kind that comes in a jar from the store: Homemade. It's dead easy and delicious. And with a shortbread cookie on the bottom and a handful of frozen wild blueberries on top, it's a ridiculously easy, fast, cool and lovely summer dessert.
Here's my curd recipe. I use the whole egg, while most recipes call for just the yolks. Why? Because leaving the whites in makes for a fluffier curd.
Fluffy Lemon Curd
Ingredients
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
6 eggs
zest of 1 lemon
6 Tbsp butter
Method
In a double boiler or heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, add the lemon juice and sugar.
Break the eggs into another bowl.
Start whisking the juice and sugar and with the tip of a finger, test the temperature. It should just be warm, not hot, or the eggs will scramble. If too hot, simply take the pot off the burner and reduce the heat, then return to the burner.
Add the eggs all at once and whisk. Whisk continuously, scraping the sides of the bowl every so often.
It will take a while, and it may seem hopelessly thin, but keep whisking non-stop and after a good while, the egg and lemon mixture will thicken beautifully.
When as thick as pudding, add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, still whisking constantly.
When all the butter has been incorporated, turn the heat off and add the lemon zest and whisk it in.
Set the curd aside to cool - uncovered - or pour into individual dessert dishes while still hot and then set aside to cool at room temp, uncovered.
Once completely cooled, then cover and add pop into the fridge.
Lemon curd is brilliant on its own or on plain pound, angel food cake or meringue. Use this recipe to spread over a blind-baked flan or shortcrust shell.
I think the tart and creamy flavour goes particularly well with blueberries, and I love the way the dark blue bleeds into the pale yellow.
Lemon curd makes a great hostess gift too: put it into little jars with pretty twine and tags. I like to fill cleaned out egg shells with curd, then top with meringue or whipped cream, comme ça!
