Get home deliveryCustomer Service

Register Now

• Sign In
• E-mail preferences

OxfordPress.com

Lemon curd

A colleague I met in a French cooking school shared this recipe for lemon curd years ago. I thought then, and still do, that curd is an ugly word, so I renamed the recipe fresh lemon pudding when it appeared in The Best of It's Simple , my 1990 cookbook. But lemon curd it is. The microplane grater has replaced the lemon zester previously used for the lemon zest.

Makes 2 1/2 cups

3 lemons

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

Juice the three lemons and grate the rind of one of them (the best way to do this is to use a microplane grater or a lemon zester). Strain the juice to remove seeds and pulp.

Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. Add the lemon rind and strained juice, the salt and sugar and mix well with a spoon.

Beat the whole eggs and yolks together with a hand beater. Add to the lemon-sugar mixture and cook over the simmering (not boiling) water, stirring from time to time. After about 10 minutes, the mixture will begin to bubble. Stir or whisk constantly until the pudding is thick and shiny. The white froth will disappear.

Cool the pudding.

(This can be made ahead and refrigerated. Use in tartlets, mini phyllo shells or just mix with some freshly whipped cream for a fresh summer pudding).