make your own lemon curd
There are few things that can beat a homemade lemon curd and these little jars of sunshine are surprisingly really simple to make – and make your kitchen smell great too! Lemon curd tastes great on pretty much anything but one of the best ways to enjoy it is simply on toast. It’s a great way to jazz up a simple breakfast and these jars also make great little gifts.
You will need:
3 or 4 sterilized empty jam jars (just put them on a hot wash in the dishwasher beforehand, or fill them with boiling water from the kettle)
A fine grater (as fine as possible or you’ll end up with lemon marmalade)
8 unwaxed organic lemons – preferably not rock hard as you want them to be nice and juicy! Make sure they are soft enough to can press into them with your fingers. If they are a bit hard then bash them up a bit.
400g sugar
200g butter
6 eggs
2 eggs yolks
Method:
Start by zesting / grating the lemons into a heatproof bowl. Try to zest only the outer yellow zest but don’t zest too much white as it can make the curd a little bitter!
Cut the naked lemons in half and squeeze every last drop of juice into the heatproof bowl
Cut the butter into smaller bits and pop them in the bowl along with the sugar
Place the bowl over simmering water and whisk as the butter starts to melt (a wooden spoon works just as well)
Separately, whisk up the eggs and yolks, and pour them into the bowl
Keep stirring the yellow mixture until it becomes nice and thick
Once it’s nice and thick, take it off the heat and stir it a bit as it cools down, then pour the mixture into the hot sterilized jars – make sure to fill them right to the top!
Seal tightly whilst it’s still hot, then let the jars cool down before keeping them in the fridge – they can keep for around 3 weeks.
Pimp up your breakfast in bed and enjoy on pancakes, cakes, crumpets and toast!
