Meyer Lemon Curd Recipe
Source of Recipe
Jacqueline Pham
Recipe Introduction
Lemon curd (cr�me au citron in French) is thickened custard made from lemon juice and zest, sugar, butter and egg yolks. I used the fruits from our Meyer lemon tree in the garden and added ginger to conceal the egg yolk flavor.
List of Ingredients
Yields: 1 quart
10 egg yolks, at room temperature
1-� cups superfine sugar (or granulated sugar)
1/3 cup honey
8 Meyer lemons, at room temperature
1 (1-inch) chunk fresh ginger
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and chilled
1/8 teaspoon salt Recipe
Preparation
Prepping the Meyer lemons: Zest (about 1-� tablespoons) and squeeze the Meyer lemons. Finely chop the zest (I used a fine mesh Microplane so it wasn't necessary). Reserve the juice (about 1-� cups).
Making lemon sugar: In a mortar and pestle, grind the lemon zest with the sugar until fragrant. You could also use a food processor.
Freshly grated ginger: Clean the ginger root and remove any dirt. Peel the ginger root with a paring knife (or the edge of a spoon). Grate the ginger with a fine mesh Microplane. Gather about 2 teaspoons of grated ginger root.
Making Meyer lemon curd: Using a handheld mixer, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a small stainless steel (or heat-proof) mixing bowl until you get a pale, yellow foam. Add salt.
Prepare a double boiler: Fill a saucepan with water, making sure the water barely covers the bottom of the stainless steel mixing bowl. I always like to add a little kitchen towel on top of the saucepan. The bowl won't jiggle and there won't be any splatter of water in your egg mixture. Bring the water to a boil then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Place the stainless steel bowl over the saucepan and, using a handheld mixer, start whisking the egg mixture vigorously for about 3 minutes to thicken the texture of the egg yolks. Add honey. The mixture should fall like a ribbon of sauce when you lift the whisk.
Transfer the egg mixture to a 2-quart saucepan. Add the lemon juice and ginger paste and cook for another 8-10 minutes over low-heat until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly using a silicone spatula. Turn off the heat. Another trick to make sure the lemon curd is ready; is to use a digital thermometer and reach an internal temperature of 160-175�F.
Immediately remove the saucepan from the stove and add the chilled butter, a few pieces at a time, whisking continuously. Once the pieces of butter are melted, repeat until all the butter is used.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve in a bowl to make sure there are no egg solids left.
Place the bowl into an ice bath. When the lemon curd is completely cool, cover with a piece of plastic wrap; make sure the plastic wrap is directly in contact with the lemon curd to keep it from forming a skin. Chill in the refrigerator.
When you're ready to serve, bring the lemon curd back to room temperature.
Serve immediately.
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