lemon curd

Lemon curd.  Seems like such a short title for such an amazingly delicious creation.  How about the most fantastic, creamy, lemon dessert that taste like sunshine on your tongue?  Now that’s a title!!

Let me just tell you a little more about this magical creation…

• Lemon curd is a dessert spread/filling/topping that is made with whole eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and butter.
• All of these ingredients are slowly cooked together until they become thick.  Then the curd is chilled which makes it become a smooth and flavorful dessert creation that you will want to eat directly with a spoon!! (Jenn, walk AWAY from the spoon!!)
• Then you can take this delicious bowl of sunshine and use it as your favorite tart filling, a topping for cheesecake, in layered dessert bars, as a base for a whipped cream topping, and I’m sure you’ve heard of lemon meringue pie….yes, you can use this for that too!!

And even though the ingredient list is pretty straight-forward, you do need to follow a few guidelines while cooking.  Here are best hints for making a successful batch of lemon curd:

• Because lemon juice is acidic, you will want to use a non-reactive stainless steel pot and whisk so that your dessert doesn’t have that off-putting metallic taste.
• When cooking your batch of curd on the stove, make sure that your heat level is medium to medium-low.  You want your curd to gently cook until thickened – never let this curd come to a boil or you will be looking at a pot full of lemon-flavored scrambled eggs instead of dessert filing!
• And, make sure your butter is cold.  Cold butter melts slowly when whisked into your hot curd and that’s a good thing because (1) cold butter keeps your curd from splitting and (2) slowly melting butter gives your curd a gorgeous glossy shine – and who doesn’t eat with their eyes first!?!

Okay, so I can’t really think of anything else to tell you about this recipe except that you just need to make it already!!  If you need some recipe ideas for this lemon curd, make sure to follow me on Instagram or Facebook – I’ll be sharing all my favorite ways to enjoy this dreamy dessert soon!!

XO,

Jenn

PS Here are some other lemon recipes you might enjoy:
meyer lemon bars – so elegant and delicious!!
roasted fingerling potatoes and fava beans with mint and lemon – a light side dish packed full of flavor!
blueberry lemondrop – a fancy cocktail for those special occasions!!
vegan lemon tart – a rich and creamy dessert that’s completely vegan!!