Lemon Curd

I'd say that the basic recipe for Lemon Curd is pretty simple...I found that the easiest one was in The Gourmet Cookbook, and did just fine. If anything, I would reduce the sugar to one cup (I like it on the tart side rather than sweet) and increase the amount of zest.

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh lemon juice (this ended up being about 4 big, juicy lemons worth)
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons


Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, eggs and salt in a heavy saucepan. Add butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about ten minutes.

You can then either force the curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a owl and discard the zest, or, like me, you just skip this step altogether because you like having your curd with a little zest in it. Cool to room temperature, stir occasionally if you like (I didn't). Refrigerate in an air-tight container until cold (I put the curd into two jars I had laying around).

Note: The lemon curd can be refrigerated, covered, for up to one week. If it even lasts that long, which I doubt, since it is so dee-lish and you probably won't be able to stop yourself from opening the jar and scooping yourself some at any given opportunity.