Lemon curd: Quick and easy

One of the independent greengrocers in Edinburgh (in Roseneath Street) often has bags of lemons or limes at very low prices. I couldn’t resist buying a bag of 10 for only 90p!

A spoonful of lemon curd

Lemon curd is one of those delicious things that you assume will be sticky to make. I did too, until a friend shared the “everything in” method she’d come across. Between us we’ve used two recipes to produce an indulgent, tasty recipe. Do have a look at the original recipes (thanks to the BBC and Fine Cooking).

Measure out all the ingredients before you start. You’ll need a heavy bottomed saucepan (eg Le Creuset) a food processor (or plenty of muscle) and a jar or box to store the curd in.

Lemon Tarts

4 large lemons (grate the zest of 2 of the lemons with a microplane or zester, juice all 4)

100 grams butter (I used salty)

3 large eggs

200 grams of caster sugar (if you prefer it less tart add 50 grams)

You can use limes or Seville oranges, but you’ll need to experiment with how much sugar is to your taste. Use a lot less for limes!

Method

In the bowl of a food processor, mix the butter, eggs and sugar together as if you were making a cake. Mix well. Add the juice and zest. The mixture will probably have curdled, don’t worry about this.

Put into the saucepan and gradually bring to the boil stiring all the time with a wooden spoon. Turn down the heat a little. Keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick. Pour into jar and let it cool before storing in the fridge. It will be fine for about a week. You can freeze it too.

Use as a tart filling or even on toast. Delicious! I could just eat it straight from the spoon …

Foodista