As you probably know by now, I’m all about making simple things. If a recipe has too many ingredients, involves too much prep, or looks like I’ll get too many pots and pans dirty, I probably won’t make it. Lemon curd is the perfect example of this laziness-turned-innovation. Most recipes will have you cream the butter in an electric mixer, then do all kinds of crazy things with a double boiler.
Rather than accept such non-sense at face value, I set out to simplify this recipe. First I remembered an old trick for getting melted butter to combine with other liquids without clumping up. This eliminates the need to beat it in a mixer. Then I decided a double boiler isn’t necessary as long as you use a heavy bottomed pan over low heat. Voila, 1-pot, 1-bowl lemon curd in less than 30 minutes.
Update: I love Meyer lemons for their intense sweet lemony flavor, but they are much more delicate than regular lemons so they’re not so supermarket-friendly. If you’re in California they’re available all over the place, but for those of us in other parts of the country/world, try looking at “gourmet” groceries or at a farmer’s markets while they are in season (late winter - early spring). You could substitute for regular lemons, but you may need to increase the amount of sugar.
1 stick unsalted butter (1/4 lbs)
2-3 Meyer lemons zested
1/2 C Meyer lemon juice
3/4 C sugar
2 extra large eggs separated
Drop the whole stick of butter into a heavy bottomed saucepan over low heat and let it melt (the pan should be just warm enough to melt the butter). Once it’s mostly melted turn off the heat.
In a medium bowl, add the sugar and zest a few lemons into it. Then squeeze about 1/2 C of juice and add it to the sugar.
Separate the eggs, dropping the yolks into the pot of melted (but not hot) butter and the whites into the sugar mixture.
Whisk the yolks and butter together until well combined. Then take the whisk to the sugar mixture until well combined. Pour the sugar mixture into the pot with the butter and whisk it all together.
Turn the heat back on to low and use a heat-proof silicon spatula to constantly stir the mixture, scrapping the bottom and sides of the pan to make sure nothing burns. If you have an instant read thermometer, just get the temp up to 170 degrees and you should be golden. Otherwise, just keep stirring until the curd thickens enough to coat the spatula. Make sure you don’t over cook it!
As soon as it’s done, take it off the heat and pour it into another container.
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