I doubt it.

Nope. I use a Beranbaum-Amendt combo recipe. Curd will easily keep in the fridge three months and the freezer six months. (Well-sealed I'd say that's conservative for the freezer. I've kept curd frozen a year with no problems.)

Carol

yeah Carol, even NCHFP sez up to a year in freezer...

Willing to share your combo recipe?

Sure, I don't mind. It's not my recipe but a melding of Beranbaum's and Amendt's. Amendt gave pressure-canning instructions, which I avoid. When I emailed her she acknowledged it wasn't tested.

I'm sure Beranbaum was conservative in her storage times, but then that fits her character. I have noticed with longer storage there can be a faint "staleness" so while perfectly edible, it's not "prime."

This is a Meyer Lemon Curd. I've included some picky tips. There are easier ways to make curd, but this does produce really superior results for what by curd standards is a good-size batch.

Meyer Lemon Curd

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 1/2 cups superfine sugar
1/2 cup fresh Meyer lemon zest -- (strips - no pith)
4 large eggs
7 large egg yolks
1 cup strained fresh Meyer lemon juice -- (6 to 8 lemons)
3/4 cup unsalted butter -- chilled, cut into 10 pieces

Place a medium glass or metal bowl in the refrigerator to chill.

In a small bowl, combine the superfine sugar and lemon zest, stirring until well blended. Let stand for 30 minutes to allow the sugar to pick up the citrus flavor of the zest.

Fill the bottom pan of a double boiler or medium saucepan about 1/4 full of water. Over medium-high heat, bring the water to a gentle boil. (Beranbaum says medium-low.)

In the top pan of a double boiler or a medium metal bowl, lightly beat the whole eggs and egg yolks. Gradually whisk in the sugar and zest until well blended. Stir in the lemon juice. Add the butter pieces.

Place the pan or bowl over the pan of water. Make sure the top pan sits well above the water so the curd will be cooked by the steam only. If necessary, reduce heat to keep water from boiling too vigorously.

Slowly heat the mixture, stirring constantly with a flexible spatula or a wooden spoon. Stir gently or the curd will be filled with tiny air bubbles. Scrape the bottom of the pan frequently to preven scorching or curdling. Cook the mixture until it reaches a temperature between 168 and 170°, about 5 to 7 minutes.

(Beranbuam says until thickened and resembling hollandaise, which thickly coats a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour - 196° on a candy thermometer. The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of a wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. It will steam above 140°. Whenever steaming occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling.)

Remove the top pan or bowl from the double boiler and place it on a dish towel. Continue to stir the mixture until the curd thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon, about 5 minutes.

Remove the chilled bowl from the refrigerator. Place a fine-meshed sieve over the bowl. Slowly pour the curd through the sieve and into the chilled bowl to strain the zest and any small lumps from the curd. Gently stir the curd to remove any air bubbles.

(Amendt provides canning instructions, but this is not safe by current standards.) Keeps about 3 months.

NOTES : Yield when I made this was 3 half-pints and 1 12-oz. jar.

I make a microwave lemon curd recipe that is wonderful for freezing. My British neighbor cannot tell the difference between it and what his mother used to make.

Off topic but I have always wondered what folks actually do with this? How is it used or is it just eaten as is?

Dave

Most jams and jellies and commercial curds are too sweet for me, but really good curd is so tart-sweet that it makes a wonderful spread for toast, English muffins and since I've recently become quite fond of scones, I plan to try it on hot scones.

Having grown up in the South, one of the iconic cake memories is the Lemon Cheese layer Cake my grandmother made each Christmas. What we called lemon cheese (really lemon curd) was spread between the layers and on top. The sides were frosted with Divinity Icing (or 7-minute frosting) ...

I have plans for a Lemon Curd Cake this Christmas.

Kay

Carol, I've been studying your recipe and it sounds like its worth the effort. Thanks for sharing.

Naturally, I have a few questions:

I'm not too good at peeling off narrow strips. Wonder what would happen if I used my handy-dandy Micro-Plane zester. About how many lemons does it take to yield 1/2 cup?

Is there a season for Meyer lemons?

Have you ever used limes? Maybe key limes?

I don't see any reason not to use the Micro-plane except for the fact that some of the lemon bits may go through the sieve. A lot of people would never bother to sieve curd anyway, but I do. It results in a curd of unctuous smoothness with nary a bit of white albumen from the whole eggs.

So barring the occasional lemon shred (which I wouldn't consider bothersome) it's not an issue.

Even if you don't use this recipe, I do find some of the tips worthwhile. It was Amendt's original recipe that suggested infusing the sugar. I've since used that in a lot of recipes because the lemon is so much better distributed. I've spent my share of time dealing with shreds clumped up in cake batter or cookie dough.

Carol

Dave,

Folks have been known to just eat it with a spoon, like pudding or custard!

But it's usually paired with some sweet carbohydrate: put into little tart shells, spread into a big pie shell & topped with meringue, used as a filling between cake layers, spooned over pound cake, etc.

Zabby, who likes it well enough, but was disappointed to discover that it had such a custardlike texture; the term "lemon curd" in my mind conjures up something with more texture, and that's what I'd always imagined when I heard of this wonderful concoction before I'd ever enountered the real thing....

Dave, think Lemon Meringue Pie filling or Lemon Bars. Those are essentially the same (as long as you don't succumb to the boxed stuff).

Carol

Ahhh, thanks for the info. Like Zabby I was picturing something more like cottage cheese - liquid or juice with curds mixed in - or maybe a really chunky lemon yogurt type thing which wouldn't be bad either. ;) But now lemon meringue pie! that I can get my mouth and eyes around.

Dave

Yup, lemon curd is just like lemon meringue pie filling except richer - more butter and eggs. What's not to like about that?

Not to mention lime curd or, and this is heavenly, raspberry curd, boysenberry or blackberry curd, tangerine-vanilla, peach-rosewater. Cranberry curd for the holidays. You get the idea.

Just don't muck it up with margarine.

Carol

I haven't mucked things up with margarine since the days when it came in a white block with a yellow marble inside a plastic bag ... which you squeezed and squeezed and squeezed until it was a hideous yellow.

Over the years I have 'saved' a number of great recipes by replacing the margarine with good old butter.

kay

Mmmm, no lemons but I have tons of blackberries. Can you share a recipe for blackberry curd?

DS's favorite birthday cake is a white cake with lemon curd filling and lemon frosting. I haven't made it since he was 9 (past 2 birthdays have been on vacation) but I should make it this year. I just use store-bought.

Here are two recipes of varying richness. They say "Loganberry Curd" but of course can be used with any similar berry (i.e. blackberry/boysenberry).

Both make approximately 2 cups, which is about right to fill a 9-inch tart.

I also have a separate Blackberry Curd recipe which includes apples. I haven't made that one as I don't find the idea of diluting the berries with apples appealing, but I will post if someone wants to try it.

Any of these curds can be varied depending upon the sweetness of the fruit. Less or more lemon and sugar.

These are old recipes. I am sorry to say I don't remember the source.

Title: Loganberry Curd

Ingredients:

3 x Half-Pint Baskets Of Loganberries
1/2 cup Sugar, approximately
4 tbl Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice, to taste
2 x Eggs
2 x Egg Yolks

Method:
Puree the Loganberries and put them through a fine strainer to remove the seeds. Measure 1 1/2 cups puree, heat it in a non-corroding saucepan, and stir in the sugar and butter. Taste and add the lemon juice to taste. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks just enough to mix them, then stir in some of the hot puree to warm them. Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick - it should reach a temperature of 170 degrees F. Chill.

Makes about 2 cups.

Title: Loganberry Curd

Ingredients:

3 cup Loganberries
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Sugar, * see note
1 cup Unsalted Butter
3 x Egg Yolks

Method:
* If the berries are not sweet enough

Puree the Loganberries, combine them with the lemon juice and sugar, if needed. Place in saucepan, simmer about 5 minutes, and strain through a mesh sieve.

Place the strained Loganberries in a blender or food processor. Melt the butter in a saucepan until it is just bubbly. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the butter. Return the mixture to a saucepan. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks. Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of the Loganberry mixture to the egg yolks and blend well. Pour the egg yolk and Loganberry mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the Loganberry mixture. Over very low heat, stir until the mixture thickens, about 10 or 15 minutes. Cool and refrigerate.

Loganberry curd will keep up to 10 days in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 pint.

Carol

Thanks for the recipe - I thought you could make it to keep longer like the store-bought? Guess I'll have to try it for a family reunion next w/e if it has to be used w/i a week.

Frankly, I think it will keep much longer than that in the fridge. Curds also freeze very well and this curd is no exception, so don't feel you have to stick to that 10-day time-limit. For best quality, though, I would freeze curds I want to keep longer-term.

Carol

Okay, The NCHFP says it's save to can their Lemon Curd recipe yet I have read on here many times not to can it. Why?

That recipe uses bottled lemon juice and has been calibrated and tested for safety. Other recipes have not.

It's not that something can't be canned. It's a matter of testing and verifying safe procedures and processing times for a particular recipe. That's why there are still flour-thickened pickle recipes available in the Ball Book. But you wouldn't want to grab one from just anywhere and put it up.

Carol

carol, you said above
(Amendt provides canning instructions, but this is not safe by current standards.)
Is it not safe because she used fresh juice? .. not bottled?

I shouldn't have said "not safe." That's my own note on the recipe and I should have changed it for posting. I've complained about that terminology often enough.

I emailed Amendt about her recipe. First she said the recipe followed current USDA guidelines. When I pointed out there are no USDA guidelines I know of for home-canning curds or egg and butter products she acknowledged her curd processing recommendations were untested.

In fact, Amendt said she no longer cans her curds but freezes them. Unfortunately, AFAIK, there's been no correction in later copies of her book

So I should have said "untested." Who knows if they're safe or not? Impossible to tell.

Carol

Readinglady, I find your posts on this thread to be absolutely priceless!
I have made lemon curd many times because my DH was raised in England and therefore has an addiction to it.

However, I have a large patch of wild raspberries on my property and, not wanting to waste such a resource, was contemplating what to do --- freeze? make syrup for ice cream?

Now I have just the solution -- follow your Loganberry curd receipt. Thank you, thank you, thank you!