Not the same at all....as Colleen said.

Ina Garten's recipe for lemon curd

Ingredients

* 3 lemons
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
* 4 extra-large eggs
* 1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
* 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

Lemon pie filling, Alton Brown
Lemon Filling:

* 4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
* 1/3 cup cornstarch
* 1 1/2 cups water
* 1 1/3 cups sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1/2 cup lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
*

Thanks for the replies! Linda, I was going to buy the lemon curd today(per recipe instructions) but since you posted a recipe for it, I think I will make it. Sounds delicious! :)

I love lemon curd and have successfully made the microwave variety.

Is there any reason why it can't be used in a lemon meringue pie instead of the corn starch method?

I've done the lemon curd in a pie....with meringue topping. Delicious, but very very rich!!
It actually works better in a tart shell, as you don't have so much filling, but still that good lemon taste.
Linda C

I also use the microwave recipe, which was given to me by Colleen. It's the easiest recipe I've ever used and I love lemon curd. I try to convince myself that I'll make tiny little tartlets, but I end up eating it with a spoon.

Lemon Butter (Colleen�s)
� 4oz butter (NOT margarine)
3/4 cup lemon juice �(about 3 lemons' worth)
all the rind from the lemons, grated
1 cup sugar (I use superfine)
4-5 eggs, thoroughly beaten
� Put butter, sugar, lemon juice and lemon rind into a micro-safe bowl. �Cook on high about 3 minutes, stirring halfway through. �Butter should be melted and sugar dissolved. �Beat in eggs and microwave in 30-second bursts until it thickens, about 2 minutes. �Whisk after each burst. ��Store in refrigerator to prolong the shelf life, which is short.

Makes about 3 cups, maybe less.
� Sneaky notes:
If you are making a _lot_ of this, for gifts, etc, I peel the rind off with a peeler and drop it into the blender. �Then cut off the white pith with a paring knife. �Making sure there are no seeds, drop lemon flesh into blender. �Whizz it up until the rind is pulverised. �You should end up with about 1 cup of juice/rind mix per batch, to account for the rind and aeration. �You can double or triple the recipe, just use a bigger bowl and adjust the times.

I also use the blender to whizz the eggs. �If they are not totally beaten, you can get little white strings from the egg white which don't look great.
If you overcook it and it separates, beat up an extra egg. �Gradually mix separated (sounds much better than curdled, doesn't it? �) mixture into egg. �Repeat if necessary.
� This is easy and delicious and doesn't make enough to spoil before I use it up, LOL. It's delicious as a tart filling but a bit rich for a pie, IMO. The notes are Colleen's, and I thank her repeatedly for the recipe!

Annie

Bought lemon curd is an abomination upon the face of the earth IMO and tastes nothing like lemon curd should. This is because real lemon curd doesn't can well so the manufacturers make lemon flavoured sludge, can that instead and call it "lemon curd". They misspell it- should be "lemon crud". :-)

I picked up lemons today and tomorrow will make that cake. Thanks so much for all of the tips and recipes!

colleenoz...just out of curiosity, I looked at the jar of lemon curd/ *crud* and you are right as it did not look very appealing to me either!