Lemon Curd

Curd is such a weird word. It reminds me of curdle, which is rather unappetizing, and when I mentioned it on Twitter, some people said curd reminded them of turd. Haha! Wait, did I just say turd on a food blog? Why yes, yes I did.

However, curd tastes nothing like a turd. Not that I’ve ever tasted a turd. Ok…back to this curd.

I’ve always been curious about making a citrus curd, but I’m not a fan of desserts where lemon or lime is main component. However, my husband loves lemon. At our wedding, his groom’s cake was a tiered king cake, with the main tier having lemon filling. Blech…

So, for my husband’s birthday, I asked him what he’d like to have on his birthday. He requested yellow cake with pineapple or lemon filling. Well, I decided to make lemon filled cupcakes this time around, since I selfishly wanted to make a curd. 🙂 This was the perfect filling for the cupcakes that I made (which I’ll blog about soon). It was thick enough for a filling, and according to my husband and his coworkers, this tasted delicious!

Lemon Curd
Source: Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 5 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• Grated zest of 2 lemons
• 6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

Directions:

1. In a heavy saucepan, combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk for 1 minute.
2. Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk for 1 minute more. Set the pan over low heat and cook gently, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Cover tightly and allow to refrigerate fully before serving. Makes about 1 cup.