Lemon Curd

This is one of the many ingredients someone should have in their pantry. It`l like gold on toast, on a bagel, on donuts, on pancakes...the list could go on forever, in my opinion.

There`s nothing much to be said about this recipe. Everything is just perfect when it comes to lemon curd.

And yes, I do plan to post a breakfast recipe related to this post. It became on of the favorites in our household.

So back to the preparation method which is so,so easy that everybody can do it. You only need to whisk for a good 10 minutes until it thickens. Plop in some butter and that`s it. Spoon it over whatever you want. :)

I`m not saying this is a "fool-proof" recipe, because I don`t believe in such things. There is always a chances of me screwing up things when I make them for the first time, but this lemon curd is not it. My first batch of Macarons (which were horrible, by the way) were filled with Lemon Curd. The recipe I used at the beginning was that of the good Stephanie Jaworski from Joy Of Baking. Maybe it was my fault (I`m sure it was my fault, I had little to no experience back then), but my Macarons looked like stones and my lemon curd had a vomit sort of consistency. But I improved and created my own recipe, with 5 egg yolks, sugar, a lot of lemon zest and juice and butter. No flour involved here. Lemon Curd is originally without any thickener, but I`ve seen some recipes calling for cornstarch or things like that. But not here. We`re talking traditional, old-fashioned lemon curd.

Ingredients:

5 egg yolks

47 gr unsalted butter

2 large lemons or 3 medium ones

200 gr granulated white sugar

Directions:

1. Fill a medium sized pot with a bit of water and bring it to a boil, then place a saucepan that`s fitting over the top. Take care so the water doesn`t touch the bottom of the saucepan, you only want the steam to heat. Bring the water to a simmer and keep it like that (simmering).

2. Grate the lemon peel (from all of the lemons) and squeeze the juice out of them. Put them in the saucepan over the simmering pot of water, together with the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk them well for 10 minutes or so. You will notice the mixture will start to thicken and after 10 minutes it might be done. You know it`s ready when you run your finger on the back of the spoon and it stays separated, meaning that the trace of your finger will not disappear.

3. Take the saucepan off the heat and add the butter, whisking well until the butter is completely melted in the lemon mixture. Transfer it to another clean bowl, loosely cover the surface with plastic wrap and leave it to cool completely. Store it in a mason jar and place it in the fridge. The lemon curd keeps up to 2 weeks.