Hello folks. How you doin?
It was my birthday a few days back and I was told that I am the only person on earth that gets seven cakes for her birthday. Puhleez… I am sure Taylor Swift gets like 101 cakes at least on her birthday but hey, more cakes only meant that I am loved by a lot more people, right? Ain’t complaining here one bit. Is there even such a thing as too many cakes? I didn’t even have any worries regarding calories as I shared the cake and made quite a number of people happy. I am a very giving birthday girl, if you can’t already tell. *grins*
Talking abt being happy, scientists have found out that you can actually “smell happiness” I am not 100% sure what it meant but I do know that some smell does make me happier. For example, baby powder, rosemary and citrus.
Citrus definitely my favorite and lemon tops the list. The smell of lemon zest tends to perk me up and I especially love to use it in my bakes. The common saying is, “when life gives you lemons, make a lemonade.” Not for me however as I feel that when life gives you lemons, you should make lemon curd. Lemonade is too cliché.
WHAT IS LEMON CURD?
It is a smooth velvety custard that is delicious and can be used as a topping on cheesecakes, toasts, ice cream and equally perfect as a filling to sandwich between layers of cakes, butter crumpets or scones. It is tart, buttery yet refreshing. This tangy lemon curd can be used in many desserts from lemon meringue pies to trifles and pavlovas.
HOW TO MAKE LEMON CURD?
Really simple. Just 5 ingredients. Eggs, lemon (juice + zest), sugar, butter and vanilla essence. It is cooked over a Bain-marie for about 10-15 minutes until the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Some recipes don’t use butter but I feel that its the butter what makes the lemon curd so velvety and creamy.
You can purchase store-bought lemon curd but it pales in comparison next to the homemade ones. Store-bought lemon curd is filled with ingredients that you can barely pronounce. Well, at least I can’t pronounce them!
There’s nothing quite like a homemade lemon curd. If you love lemon as much as I do, this lemon curd recipe is definitely your jam. Tangy, refreshing and luxurious, you would definitely be tempted to spread it on almost anything. I actually feel like grabbing a yogurt and swirling it with a tablespoon of this delectable lemon curd right now.
- ½ cup lemon juice
- Lemon zest from 3 lemons
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 115g salted butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla (optional)
- In a heatproof bowl, cream the butter and sugar till well combined.
- Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Fill the bottom pot of your Bain-marie (double boiler) with 2 inches of water.
- Once the water begins to simmer, place the bowl of lemon + egg mixture onto the bain-marie and whisk this mixture until it becomes thick and coats the back of a spoon.
- Once the lemon curd thickens (10-15 minutes), add the vanilla if using and remove from the heat to cool.
- Store in the fridge for up to 10 days.
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