SWEET & sour

SMOOTH AND VELVETY, THIS EASY-SQUEEZY CURD WILL TICKLE YOUR TASTE BUDS

HOMEMADE LEMON CURD

Ihave a lot of lemons on my tree at the moment and probably the most delicious thing to do with a glut of lemons is to make lemon curd, otherwise known as lemon cheese. I have no idea where the curd and cheese reference comes from because there is little dairy in this recipe, and the finished result is a lovely, velvety cream, nothing like curd or cheese.

Lemon curd was traditionally served with bread or scones for afternoon tea as an alternative to jam, or used as a filling for cakes and tarts. And it is essential for a lemon meringue pie.

I like to use lemon curd on raisin toast with ricotta cheese or you can make a simple tart by spreading it over some shortcrust pastry and baking. LEMON CURD

250g sugar

60g butter

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

2 eggs

1 Put the sugar, butter, zest and juice into a double boiler. If you don’t have one, then sit a bowl on top of a saucepan in which you have water boiling. Don’t let the base touch the water. Turn the element to low and stir the mixture until the sugar has melted. Try not to rush this.

2 Beat the eggs, then stir them in, slowly and gently. Turn up the heat and cook until it thickens. Take off the heat and store in a sterilised jar. This will keep for two to three weeks in the fridge.