So here we go with the first for many (hopefully) posts on the recipes we have enjoyed at TheSecretGarden-France. We have been trying a few ideas and decided that this was a winner, and it was fun, there is not a lot of cooking to be fair but the results were fantastic.
The building blocks for this recipe start with the Lemon Curd, I don’t know about you, but I like to search for ‘the ultimate recipe’ that JUST feels right, I flick around a number of recipes until I get the RIGHT one, so for me this is it…..
- 4 Lemons – juice and zest
- 120g of softened unsalted butter, cut into smallish chunks
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 tsp of cornflour
- 185g of white caster sugar (better as it melts quicker)
Get all the components of the recipe together before you start making the curd. Start by zesting and juicing the lemons, pour the lemon juice and zest into a cup or small bowl and add the corn flour, mix well.
Take a good sized pot/pan and break the eggs into the pot and whisk until broken and with a bit of volume, next add the lemon mixture (with the corn flour), the sugar and mix all together then add the butter. Put the pot onto a low heat and start to mix, either with a wooden spoon or whisk, you need to keep the temperature at a reasonably low temperature as you really don’t want Lemon scrambled eggs (not nice).
Keep mixing, moving the mixture in the pan, the butter should start to melt and mix into the other ingredients. This stage can take between 8-10 mins, so be patient, (you don’t want lemon scrambled eggs), once the mixture starts to thicken, keep whisking using a whisk until you get the consistency you want, (you are looking for a thick custard texture) it will thicken more as it cools.
Take of the heat and continue to whisk for 1-2 mins as the bottom/sides of the pot will still be warm and you don’t want the curd to scorch on the bottom of the pot.
You can leave the curd in the pot to cool if you are making it for the Lemon Meringue Cheesecakes or you can transfer into jars for later. (This recipe makes about 500 ml)
If you are transferring into jars, ensure you use sterilised jars and pour the hot curd into the jars, top with a wax paper and put the lids on, it will keep for a few weeks, but must be kept in a cool place.
Lemon Curd