I don’t take lemon curd lightly. It has to be made a particular way. It must be made with Meyer Lemons. If you make it with regular lemons, I’ll still love you, but your taste buds may not like you as much as they would if you made it with Meyer Lemons. You might even call me a lemon curd snob. I can accept that.
This recipe comes from Alton Brown. (Don’t act surprised, his food is amazing!) In two and a half years and probably hundreds of attempts at different lemon curds, this is hands down THE best Lemon Curd recipe I’ve found.
It uses egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and butter. That’s it. Four simple ingredients. If you’ve ever read the label on store-bought lemon curd, there are more than four ingredients and you probably can’t pronounce half of them! Now that you have this recipe, you’ll never have to buy lemon curd again! That’s why I’m here. You’re welcome!
So what can you do with lemon curd? You mean besides eating it straight off the spoon as your pouring it into jars? Well, you can use it as a spread on my Lemon Ricotta Muffins! Just this week I used it as a filling for these incredible Meyer Lemon Muffins! It’s also great on pancakes or on warm bagels spread with a bit of cream cheese and lemon curd on top! Delicious! Use it as a topping for lemon bars or as a tangy filling between a white or lemon layer cake. There are LOTS of options! I’ve also used lemon curd on these lovely lemon glazed blueberry scones! My favorite is a spoon. What’s yours?
Worlds Best Meyer Lemon Curd!
Recipe from Alton Brown
Ingredients
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 Meyer Lemons, zested and juiced
1 stick of butter, cut into pats and chilled
Instructions
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 lemon juice and if needed (I’ve never had to do this) add enough water to reach ⅓ cup.
Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk until smooth.
Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Your bowl should be large enough to fin on top of saucepan without touching the water.)
Whisk until thickened and mixture is pale yellow and coats the back of a spoon. (Between 8 and 16 minutes – it’s a great arm workout!)
Remove promptly from heat once curd coats the back of spoon.
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.
Stays well in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
