Lemon Curd

Like many bloggers, I went through a little phase called the "macaron craze." Not the coconuty macaroons, but the real Parisian macarons that costs as high as over 2 euro a piece at Laduree. And like many bloggers, I had my fair share of macaron disasters. In fact, I have just about encountered every problem that can happen to a macaron novice. But, all of these will have to come in another entry. stay tuned!

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that macarons's main ingredient is egg white and egg white alone. So after many many batches of unsuccessful macarons, I was left with many many egg yolks. I searched hard on the internet for recipes that will help me make use out of these yolks, and I came upon lemon curd! Fortunately I also had a lot of lemons on hand courtesy of my aunt's lemon tree. Lemon is one of my favorite ingredients in food so I was thrilled to give this recipe a try!

Lemon Curd

(Recipe from Alton Brown)

5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled

Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Remove to a clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks

I put the finished product in little baby food jars (courtesy of my 1 yr old niece Ruth). We ate the curd with crackers and it was delicious!