With our brief summery spell came a desire to conjure up
something fragrant and zesty in the kitchen – lemons would do the trick. Lemon
curd is a curious thing and ‘curd’ is a curious word, not pretty-sounding like
marmalade or cordial and not doing justice to the punchy sweet-sharp flavour that it delivers.
So, out came the trusty microplane and I set to zesting
and juicing. Really ripe lemons are best for this, a lot of supermarket bought
lemons are rock-hard with a greenish tinge, which won’t yield much juice or a flavoursome zest. I
find lemons from greengrocers or markets are much better, alternatively buy
your lemons in advance and let them soften up on the windowsill.
Lemon curd
Zest and juice of 2 large, unwaxed lemons
100g sugar
50g butter
2 large eggs
2
egg yolks
1. Place the lemon zest, juice,
sugar and butter into a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted
2. Combine the eggs and egg yolks
with a fork and then stir into the lemon mixture. Whisk regularly
with a
balloon whisk as the curd cooks and thickens up to a custard-like consistency.
It'll take around
10-15 mins to thicken and takes a little patience but don’t
be tempted to turn the heat up otherwise
you’ll end up with a curdled mess.
3. Remove
from the heat and leave to cool in a bowl or pop into sterilised jars if you're
not going to use
it immediately. It'll keep in the fridge for a couple of
weeks.
And
here’s what I whipped up with my lemon curd…
Pavlova with homemade lemon curd and berries
The blues and yellows of the lemon curd and berries look
beautiful against the crisp, white meringue nest. This is a great centre piece
for a party and can be made in advance too, an all round crowd-pleaser.
Serves: 8-10
6 large egg whites
300 caster sugar
1 tsp corn flour
Pinch of salt
Blueberries, blackberries
and mint to decorate
300ml double cream
Half a jar of homemade
lemon curd (as above)
1. Preheat the oven to 120C. In a squeaky clean bowl (I
wipe the cut side of half a lemon around the bowl to get rid of any grease)
whisk the 6 egg whites and pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks, then add
the caster sugar a spoonful at a time until you have a glossy, thick mixture.
Whisk in the cornflour.
2 2. Spoon the
mixture onto a lined baking tray or dish. I use a large white, flat, oven-proof
gateau plate as then I don't have to transfer it from the baking tray and
therefore avoid cracks! Smooth it into a rough circle (approx.20-25cm) piling
it up around the edges and indenting in the centre.
3. Bake for 2
hours 15mins and then switch the oven off and leave the Pavlova inside to cool
completely before removing. If you bring it out whilst it’s still hot
it’ll be more prone to cracking.
4. Whisk the
double cream until it just starts to thicken and pile it into the centre of the
pavlova. Spoon over the lemon curd and swirl it through the cream. Top with
blueberries, blackberries, chopped mint and lemon zest.
Lemon curd and poppy seed cupcakes
A friend’s birthday brought about another timely lemon curd
fest. The spoonful of lemon curd within each cupcake gives a sweet-sharp hit
plus a nice gooey middle against the fluffy sponge.
Makes: 12 cakes
125g soft butter
125g self-raising flour
125g caster sugar
2-3tbsp milk
2 large free-range eggs
1 tbsp poppy seeds
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
12 tsp lemon curd
125g soft butter
250g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla paste
Poppy seeds for sprinkling
Lemon zest for decorating
1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a bun tin with
paper cases
2. I use an electric hand whisk, but you can
equally do this by hand with a bit of elbow grease! Whisk the eggs and butter
together until they’re pale and fluffy, add the eggs gradually until combined.
3. Fold through the flour and poppy seeds before
adding 2-3tbsp of milk depending on consistency. You want the mixture to drop
off the spoon fairly easily but not be too runny.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cases and pop a
teaspoon of lemon curd in the centre of each.
5. Bake in the oven for approx. minutes until golden
and cooked through, then remove and transfer to a wire rack until cool.
6. To make the icing whisk the butter, icing sugar
and vanilla together and spoon into a piping bag. Pipe a swirl of icing on top
of each cooled cake and sprinkle each with poppy seeds and a little grated
lemon zest.
