I went to a friends home last week for tea and scones and she served this Lemon Curd that is so outragous that I went to town, bought a huge bag of Lemons and I'm canning lemon curd this morning.

This is a quintessentially British teatime favorite. It is a sweet yet tart, velvety spread that is heavenly on scones, muffins and tea breads. it also makes an excellent filling for layer cakes or baked tartlet shells. Lemon curd keeps up to 2 months in the refrigerator so can be made well ahead of time.

LEMON CURD:

2 C. fresh lemon Juice - 8 to 12 lemons ** put lemons in microwave for
about 1 minute and you'll get more juice from each lemon
1/2 C. finely shredded/grated lemon zest
2 1/2 C. Granulated Suguar
12 (Yes, a DOZEN) TBLS. Butter
6 Eggs

Wash lemons and using a shredder or tiny grater, shred the peel into a tupperware bowl with lid then stick the tines of a fork in the lemon ONCE and put the lemons in the microwave to heat up slightly. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a strainer suspended over a bowl. The strainer will catch the seeds before they fall into the juice. Squeeze all the lemons then measure the juice. I doubled the recipe and it turned out wonderful!

In a medium saucepan, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until it has melted. Remove the mixture from the heat and cool to room temperature.

Beat the eggs into the ROOM TEMPERATURE lemon-sugar mixture until well blended and place over low heat. Bring to just below the simmering point and cook stirring constantly for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon.

Wash 2 pint or 4 half pint jars; keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs. Ladle hot curt into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe jar rim with clean dry cloth or paper towel. Attach lid and ring. Repeat with remaining jars.

Process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes. Let jars set for 24 hours.

Makes 4 Cups.

Sounds great - I have never had fresh-made!

I love this stuff, especialy for cake filling. Thanks for the recipe. :mrgreen:

Loretta:
No, my friend isn't FROM Britain but I think she and her family might have been stationed there with the Army many years ago. My friend LOVES to try new and different recipes and this was one she found a few years ago and loved it. As soon as I tried it I knew I wanted to make it in place of the store bought Lemon puddings that I've always used AND LOVE! If there is a lemon pie in the house I can't seem to rest until the plate is empty. :cry: :wink:

Marilyn:
This curd recipe is a bit on the tart side which is what makes me keep wanting more and more. I'm glad you like it and hope you'll pass the recipe along as I definately think it's a keeper and a sharer.

Thanks for this recipe. I made it and it is delicious!!!

Do you have a special recipe for the tart shells, or is a pie crust type recipe good for these??

CRH: I have used regular pie crust using:

3 Cups Flour
1 Cup Water
1 tsp. Salt
6 tsp. COLD water

Mix as always and either roll out to fit a 8 or 9 inch pie shell or put walnut sized pieces of dough in a mini muffin tin and I use a wood plunger thing to spread the dough in the muffin tin on the bottom and up the sides of the tin....I love the wood plunger thing. I think I got it from Pampered Chef.

I've also used a sugar cookie dough for the tart which is delicious and makes a firmer tart. Don't add the filling to the tart until ready to serve.

I've also used the vinegar/egg pie crust recipe and I DO NOT recommend it for the tarts as the crust is too fragile and doesn't hold up through the first bite...guess it's great if you pop the whole tartlette in your mouth but if you plan to bite into the tart it falls apart using this crust.

Your lemon Curd recipe sounds wonderful. I am so glad that you shared it with all of us, on the quilting board!! :D :D :D Thank you again.

Loretta: Ya, I like the egg and vinegar recipe really well and it truly is a NEVER FAIL crust but for the tarts I've found a crust with more body works better but that's just my opinion. ALL of it is good.