Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Meyer Lemon Curd


Lemon sunshine in a jar. 

That's what this is.  And let me tell you, sunshine tastes good!!

I have been hearing the praises of these sunny lemons from the food blogging community for a while now.  This is the first year I've sought them out and worked with this gorgeous cousin of the standard lemon.  If you haven't encountered a meyer lemon yet, it is slightly smaller than a regular lemon, has a brighter deeper yellow tone (almost an orange yellow glow), a thinner skin and a sweeter tang.  Meyer lemons have been described as sunshine, and now that I've had a taste, I completely agree!  This is what sunshine would taste like if sunshine was a food.


I bought a bounty of meyer lemons at Costco and went to town.  Meyer lemon curd was my first project.  I have made lemon curd before but this time I wanted to can my curd.  Wow, that sounds wrong.  Anyway, I found a recipe over at Food In Jars and it's a keeper.  Curd is made with eggs and butter lending to a creamy texture which pairs nicely with the bright lemony tang from the meyers.  Think lemon meringue pie filling.  Though the lemon curd can be preserved, Marisa recommends consuming it within two months of canning because the consistency degrades after that time (the curd is still safe to eat beyond that).  Guess what that means?  I have a second jar in the cupboard that I need to get busy with.  Again, wrong.  Sorry!


This recipe yields a small amount--two half pint jars.  I doubled it and shared a jar with my best friend and a jar with my parents, hoarding the other two jars of sunshine for myself and Hubs.  We devoured the first jar in no time.  And when I say "we" I mean 90% me, 10% Hubby. 

Wondering what you can do with lemon curd?  Spread it on toast, top ice cream with it, slather it on a cookie, fill a mini tart shell, garnish cheesecake, or just eat it straight out of the jar (I may or may not have done that).  So delicious!


I have to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to my best friend Crystal for providing the inspiration for the styling of these photos.  She treated to me to an awesome tea party inspired birthday gift recently, including those pretty little tea cookies that she made from scratch (cinnamon raisin tea cookies, rose petal shortbread and rosemary cookies) and the beautiful floral table linen pictured above.  And that was just the beginning.  She also bestowed me with two antique bone china tea cups and saucers that I just love, two types of tea, including a French tea called Mariage that is really amazing and is officially my new favorite tea, a really cool vintage tin with a Currier & Ives floral print on the lid and filled with all those yummy cookies and a cookbook called Tea and Crumpets.  I'm all set for a tea party for two!  Who wants to join me?  I might even break out my last jar of meyer lemon curd!

Enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Curd
from Food in Jars originally adapted from The Martha Stewart Cookbook

Yields 2 half pint jars

6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
3 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced (you should get a generous 1/2 cup of juice)
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) cut in 1 inch pieces

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a small heavy bottomed saucepan.  Heat on medium and stir in lemon juice using a wooden spoon (you don't want to aerate the curd).  Stir continuously for 10-15 adjusting heat as necessary so the curd does not boil.  The curd should thicken and coat the back of a wooden spoon (it should still be pourable).  Stir in butter until melted.

Strain the curd using a fine mesh strainer into a glass bowl (to remove any cooked bits of egg).  Stir in lemon zest.  Ladle curd into prepared sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch head space.  If canning, process the jars for 20 minutes in a boiling water canner.  Start the time when the water comes to a full rolling boil.

Notes: Marisa points out that So Easy to Preserve recommends processing only in half pint jars or smaller to allow for proper heat infiltration.  Recipe can easily be doubled.  If not canning, refrigerate curd.  Consume within 2 months of making (whether canning or refrigerating).

18 comments:

  1. You are welcome. You are one special person to me and you deserve the very best!
    LOL on the ' I may or may not have eaten straight from the jar'! True that. I still feel ashamed of how I sort of horked down the desert I made with your lemon curd (whip cream, graham cracker layered thing). It really felt disrespectful because it is (was) such a beautiful curd. It was in fact just like sunshine. The best lemon curd I have ever had. This should be in every lemon meringue pie I make from here on out and I make at least 5 a year now since that is a favorite pie of so many family members.
    Beautifully done BF. Gorgeous photos!! Love them! and the lemon curd was seriously amazing. Pinning to my Pinterest now. Love you!

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  2. Your lemon curd is simply perfect! Delish! Those cookies look divine - do you have recipes on your blog for those too?

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    1. Thanks Lisa! I don't have the recipes on my blog, but I will see if Crystal has them or links to them.

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    2. Hi, Gloria! Your pictures are beautiful! Please ask Crystal for the recipe for rose petal cookies and post it on your blog.
      I checked the Crystal's blog, she doesn't have them there. I cannot think of anything else since I saw your pictures this morning. I spent entire day looking for the recipe on the web. there are recipes for rose petal cookie but none of them look like those on your pictures.

      Thanks in advance.

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    3. Email me your address and I will send you the recipe. My email address is on the contact tab of my blog.

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  3. I'm available for a tea party--soon. We do need some sunshine. Beautiful photos--great friend.

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    1. We have sunshine here Southern California! Come on over Cindy!

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  4. YUM i must try that lemon curd!

    Love your blog, it's so cute - Inspiring to a newbie food blogger!

    Follow back if you can :)

    Chelsea M.
    http://chowdownbythebay.blogspot.com/

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  5. Oh yum I love homemade lemon curd, yours looks delicious!

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  6. I have only JUST discovered meyer lemons (I was naive and thought that there was only 1 kind of lemon) This looks fantastic, on my to-do list :)

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  7. Gloria, your photos and the styling are stunning! I have a seemingly endless supply of meyer lemons from my inlaws' tree (every time I'm almost out they give me more and I never say no to free produce). I might need to try making this curd.

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  8. Gloria, thanks so much for all the Meyer lemon recipes! Had a banner crop this year and need to find a use for all my juice and zest.

    Margot - zest the lemons (freeze on a sheet pan then put zest into bags and put back in freezer until you need it) and then squeeze the lemons and freeze the juice in ice trays or put a cup in a bag (seal it well) and lay it flat on a tray to freeze. We have more than 3 gallons done this way!

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  9. The photos are so good they make it seem like I can just reach into the computer screen and help myself to a slice of that perfect cake.

    I also am a big believer in cakes to celebrate :) I have so many favorites but I think I can say that my favorite favorite is lemon cake in all its varieties. Now I am going to have to try this version. There really is nothing like lemon for brightness, intense flavor and sweetness.

    Fantastic work! Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Thanks for your recipe! i bought meyer lemons yesterday and did a search for lemon curd and your recipe popped up, i made a double batch within a half hour of printing your recipe and it turned out fantastic! it IS like sunshine! i just made it to refrigerate but i am glad you had both instructions because i'm seriously considering future canning of this recipe :)

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    1. Awesome! I wish I still had some of this around. We don't have Meyer lemons in the stores around me anymore unfortunately. I'm so glad you are enjoying a little sunshine! ;)

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    2. Can you freeze the lemon curd?

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