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!
Lemon Curd
