Meyer Lemon Curd

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We will get back to regional Italy shortly, but the Meyer lemons have remained on sale, so I have been working on perfecting Meyer lemon curd. Perfection is, of course, subjective in this case. Meyer lemons – not really lemons at all – are sweeter than actual lemons. And I like citrus recipes to be more acidic and less sweet. This has left me working on reducing both the sugar and butter in my lemon curd, while trying to keep a good consistency. Three batches ago was still way too sweet for me, two batches ago was good but still not quite to my taste, but I think I have something with this last batch.

I have seen a number of citrus curd recipes that use only the juice. I like to use the zest as well to amp up the flavor, but that does mean that the curd has a bit of texture. When making anything that uses the zest, I buy organic citrus then scrub them well before zesting.

If you have only ever had commercial citrus curd, and have not made it yourself, you might not realize that it involves both egg and butter. It is possible to do a mix of whole eggs and egg yolks, but I like to use all yolks to get a nice rich yellow color.

To avoid a mess while mixing, I use the old-fashioned method of a nice big stainless steal bowl over a pan of hot water. I have seen recipes that whisk right in the pan, but I prefer the indirect heat method.

So, you might ask, what do you do with all this lemon curd? Spreading it on scones or toast is always good, but I also like to make a lemon cream with it. To make the lemon cream, you simply whip cream without adding any sugar or flavor to the whip cream, then gently fold in your lemon curd to taste. I have used lemon cream made this way in lemon-berry trifles, pavlovas, and just topped with (or on top of) fresh berries. The lemon cream with fresh berries option is a light, refreshing dessert after a heavy meal.

Meyer Lemon Curd
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Meyer Lemon Curd

Course: Dessert

Ingredients

  • Zest of 4 Meyer lemons

  • 1/3 cup sugar [1/2 if you prefer sweeter]

  • 8 egg yolks [or 4 yolks and two whole eggs]

  • 1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice – strained to make sure you’ve removed seeds

  • 6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

Directions

  • Whisk together the sugar, egg yolks and zest in a large, heat proof bowl.
  • Whisk in the lemon juice and butter pieces.
  • Set bowl over pan of simmering water, and whisk constantly as the butter melts, then continue whisking constantly until the mixture thickens to not quite as thick as mayonnaise. It will thicken more as it cools.
  • Remove from heat and transfer to a glass bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap (to avoid a film forming) and chill.
  • Enjoy cold.