Meyer Lemon Curd

Following my disaster in the kitchen a couple days ago I stomped out and gave the finger to Lemon Brioche Croissants. I went on a rant and rave about the experience and luckily had some good friends and new friends remind me that this is supposed to be fun. I was told that sometimes you just need to order Chinese takeout when things don’t go your way. Then a blogger friend of mine said to put my big girl panties on and deal with it. Well okay. A new blogger connection I’ve recently made is with Anne at a good American wife, she maintains a blog about being a mother, wife, friend and cook. I met Anne online when she recently adopted me through a mentoring program put together by Kristen over at Dine and Dish.

Kristen cleverly paired newbies up with veteran bloggers so we can learn from each other and I can basically send Anne a million questions that start with “How do I…” I’ve already received a ton of ideas just from reading Anne’s blog. She is freakin hysterical, and made me realize that I should try to include more of me and my life into my posts, they don’t all have to be relegated to step by step cooking instructions. My favorite post of Anne’s that I’ve read so far is about “things I should have given up a lot sooner.” And items on this list include drinking, cigarettes, therapy.

Oh Anne! You kill me!!

Needless to say, after all this encouragement I took the advice of my friends and gave the Brioche another try. I’m skipping that post at the moment and going straight to the best part of this project which turned out to be the homemade Meyer Lemon Curd. This recipe comes from The Recipe Girl and I love what she says about life giving you Meyer Lemons…you should definitely make Meyer Lemon Curd. I think she is on to something. This is easy and decadent!

You will need a bunch of Meyer Lemons, I used four. 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 stick unsalted butter. I didn't realize the super cheap butter I found at HEB was actually vegetable oil disgised at butter. I don't know if this really effected the recipe or not.

This is my newest kitchen toy. It's a zester and I nearly zested the skin right off my finger tips. Be careful! Crate and Barrel should stick little warning lables on these killing machines.

I used two lemons to get the right amount of zest for this recipe.

Next, I sliced my lemons and manually squeezed all the juice I could out of them. I needed 1/2 cup and thought two would do it.
Because I don't have an automatic juicer, I did this by hand and used a strainer to keep the pulp and seeds out of my juice.

Shoot, not quite there. My hand is starting to hurt and and I'm only half way to having enough lemon juice. Excuse me, Meyer Lemon Juice.
Two more lemons did it. I juiced eight lemon halves to get this.
Did you know that lemons are GREAT to put down the disposal? Yes, they grind up easily and leave your sink and disposal smelling so clean - even when they are not!
This is the first time I've used this double boiler. My brother wanted one for Christmas so we each got one. It worked like a charm. Very nice! In the top of a double boiler I added the lemon zest and the lemon juice.
Next, I poured the sugar and the beaten eggs into my sour lemon mixture.

Using a whisk, I stirred that mixture like there was no tomorrow. Using my other new toy, the candy thermometer, I stirred this cream over a simmering bath of water until the temperature reached 160. It took about five minutes tops. The lemon mixture thickened up nicely. To make sure you get a nice creamy curd without any lumps, pour the mixture through a fine sieve.
You may need to help it by stirring the pulp in the strainer with a spoon.
Soon you will have a very rich and creamy lemon curd. Look how georgous this is!! I put this in the fridge and overnight it firmed up even more and by morning this was a thick cream. Perfect for breakfast scones, lemon croissants, pie filling.
Recipe girl suggests using this curd as a tart filling or served with fresh fruit. The curd keeps, covered and chilled, for about a week. If substituting regular lemons, increase sugar to 3/4 cup, according to Recipe Girl.

Now go forth and make curd!