Weekly Easy Peasy: Lemon Curd

There are few things better than a homemade lemon curd - the tart and sweet mix of refreshing lemon in such a velvety form that works fantastic on an assortment of gastronomic wonders: pastries, macarons, cupcakes, as a filling in between cakes, in the infamous tart and even spread over morning toast!  Though you can purchase some fantastic house made curd at the Queen of Tarts, if you have about ten minutes, you can make it yourself, save a bunch of cash and feel quite smug with the oooohs and aaahhhhs coming from your family!

In my attempt to get back on the blog path, here is a first of many Easy-Peasy recipes to enhance your life, just a smidge! (Thanks Martha!)

Lemon Curd

Ingredients
3 large egg yolks

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)

6 Tbsp. sugar

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

Directions
(makes 1 1/2 cups)

1. Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk to combine. Set over medium heat, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to stir sides and bottom of pan. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat back of wooden spoon,  about 5 to 7 minutes.

2. Remove saucepan from heat. Add the butter, one pieces at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until consistency is smooth.

3. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin from forming; wrap tightly. Let cook; refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour. Store, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

NOTE: you can also freeze lemon curd - it should hold up quite well for at least a month.