This is one of my all time favourite preserves to make, as not only is it delicious on toast or warm bread, but can be used in desserts. Use it as a filling in a cake, swirl into a creamy fool or make up a quick lemon meringue pie. Homemade lemon curd is relatively easy to make and store. I always use unwaxed lemons and find that this recipe is a great way of using up left over lemons, that you are not sure what to do with!
lemon curd recipe Ingredients
• 450g Caster sugar
• 4 Unwaxed lemons (zest and juice)
• 4 Eggs gently beaten
• 100g Butter
Sterilising Jars
To sterilise your jars you will need to wash and rinse in hot soapy water, or put in a hot cycle of your dishwasher. Dry them, then place on a clean baking tray and put into an oven at 150 degrees centigrade for about 15 minutes.
lemon curd recipe method
You need to place a bowl over a pan of hot water, taking care that the water does not actually touch the bottom of the bowl. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix round.
Keep gradually mixing and eventually after about 25 minutes the mixture will start to thicken. You can tell when the mixture is thick enough by taking about half a teaspoon out and placing on a cool plate for a few seconds. As it cools it should start to thicken, if it is still too runny then keep cooking for a further few minutes.
Place into sterilised jars making sure you leave a good gap between the top of the lemon curd and the jar lid. Do not place the lid of the jar on immediately, just let it loosely rest on top until the lemon curd mixture has had a chance to cool down, otherwise you will end up with condensation.
I then place a disc of greaseproof paper on top before putting the lid on.