Every winter, I order up a ten-pound box of Meyer lemons. I spent a week or two turning all that fragrant fruit into marmalade, syrup, preserved lemons, and creamy lemon curd.
I pack the curd into 4 ounce jars and stash most of them in the freezer* to keep it fresh. Then, throughout the winter and spring, I defrost one tiny jar at a time and stir a spoonful of curd into little dishes of yogurt as a sweet, tangy treat.
Recently, the folks at Craftsy asked if I wanted to take their lemon curd recipe for a spin. I nearly said no, because to my mind summer just isn’t curd season. But then I looked at the recipe and realized that their version used more lemon and less sugar, butter, and egg yolks. A lighter, more summer friendly curd, perhaps?
The recipe works much like those I’ve used before. You combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, and sugar in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. This particular version does take a little more time to set up than the batches I’ve made in the past (mostly because the concentration of thickening egg yolk is less), but if you use a larger bowl and pan than I did, you should have perfectly good luck.
Click here for Craftsy’s Lemon Curd Recipe!
I actually ended up giving up on the double boiler approach and turned my nascent curd out into a small skillet to speed the cooking. It eventually did firm, and once I added the butter, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt, I was entirely sold on this delicate version.
This curd is light and bright with unadulterated lemon flavor. Since I made it, I’ve been dreaming of dolloping a bit on a slice of angel food cake and topping that with a few fresh blueberries.
If you do make this curd, know one thing. It is inevitable that you will end up with small bits of cooked egg in your finished curd. For a perfectly smooth texture, make sure to run the hot curd through a fine mesh sieve to filter out any lumps or bumps. The recipe doesn’t tell you that, but truly, it should be done.
Click here for Craftsy’s Lemon Curd Recipe!
*I used to can my curd, but I’ve found that I prefer the texture when I skip the canning pot and preserve by freezing instead. Live and learn!
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Official disclosure statement: This is sponsored post from Craftsy. I was compensated for this post. However, all opinions remain my own.
What perfect timing! I’m making lemon curd for the first time today. I’ll give this version a try. I’m glad to know you can freeze it, because some of the recipes I’ve found make much more than 2 weeks’ worth.
Hummmm I have Meyer lemons on my lemon trees right now so they are around in summer. At least here in SF. And that curd recipe you posted looks very enticing. Thanks.
I’m fortunate enough to have access to two lemon trees, so learning that lemon curd freezes is seriously life changing! Thanks for the tip.
When you freeze the curd, do you put plastic wrap on the surface first? The Craftsy instructions say to do the, but they weren’t freezing theirs. Thanks for the delicious post!
I don’t put plastic wrap on the top before freezing. I just pack it into 4 ounce jars (leaving about 1/2 inch headspace) and then pop them in the freezer.