Like LindaLou, I eat it with a spoon. It's also a lovely cold tart filling, is nice rolled up in crepes, tops a muffin deliciously and makes a good filling for sandwich type cookies, I like it best with gingersnaps. I've also used it for jelly roll filling and in cream puffs and as a trifle layer along with lemon cake and whipped cream. It makes a passable topping for cheesecake too. Yum, I love the stuff. This is the recipe I use, also microwavable like LindaLou's. I've never tried to freeze the stuff, but I don't see why I couldn't. I like the additional eggs, because I have chickens and always am trying to use up the eggs, LOL. Microwave Lemon Butter (Colleen, Australia) 4oz butter (NOT margarine) 3/4 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons' worth) all the rind from the lemons, grated 1 cup sugar (Colleen uses superfine, I just use regular) 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. Cool a cover immediately. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 3 medium sized jars. 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. Annie

I've made it. And I've canned it. The longest I've let it sit canned is about 4 months. Obviously it doesn't taste like fresh - but it is better than the jarred stuff you can buy in the store. But canned tomatoes don't taste like fresh tomatoes either. I don't always have the time to make fresh lemon curd. I usually make it in January - when I'm getting my bulk citrus orders from Florida. There are quite a few lemon desserts I usually make at Easter, and I find it very convenient to have my home made canned lemon curd available. I usually can it in the 4 oz jars. I've never frozen it - so I can't comment on the difference between freezing it and canning it. I know there are tons of people on this forum who have 3 or 4 freezers, and thus always recommend the freezing option. But, like many others, I don't have that type of freezer space - so making fresh or canning are my options.

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

I used bought lemon curd a couple of years ago, and asked the same question! Readinglady posted this recipe for use with orange curd. YUMMM. Chocolate Orange Paradise Bars from Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Rose's Christmas Cookies" posted by readinglady Chocolate Shortbread: 10 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/3 cup powdered sugar 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa 1 cup bleached all-purpose flour Orange Curd: 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 4 large egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar pinch of salt 2 tablespoons grated orange zest Orange Chocolate Topping: 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1 1/2 teaspoons Grand Marnier Base: In medium bowl, whisk together sugars and cocoa. Add flour. Cut in butter, as for piecrust, until no dry particles of flour remain. Mixture should be small, crumbly pieces. [This step can also be done in the food processor, using cubes of chilled butter.] In a large bowl or a plastic bag, press mixture until it holds together, then knead lightly to form a dough. Place 1 oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8" baking pan with heavy-duty foil. Pat the dough into prepared pan. Use a fork to prick dough all over. Bake for 45 minutes. While the shortbread is baking, prepare the Topping. Topping: Pour the orange juice into a greased heatproof measure. Microwave on high until it is reduced to 2 tablespoons. This will take about 15 minutes. Watch closely toward the end as the juice gets very syrupy and reduces quickly. Stir the butter into the concentrated orange juice. In a heavy saucepan, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the orange mixture, salt and orange zest. The mixture will be very thick. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes or until it pools up on surface when dropped from a spoon. (A candy thermometer will read 155-160 degrees) It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. Whenever steam occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling. When the curd has thickened, pour it at once into a bowl. When the shortbread is baked, remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 300 degrees, pour the orange curd on top of the shortbread and return to oven for 5 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. While this is cooling, prepare Orange Ganache Lace Topping. Topping: In a small bowl, place chopped chocolate. In microwave or saucepan, bring cream to the boiling point. Pour it on top of the chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature and stir in the Grand Marnier. Pour the mixture into a quart-size resealable bag and close securely. Set aside. When the orange curd-covered shortbread has cooled, cut off a small corner from the bag. Drizzle swirls of chocolate over the top of the orange curd. (Save any leftovers for ice cream.) Before the chocolate drizzle sets, use the foil to lift out the shortbread onto a cutting surface. Use a long, sharp knife to cut the shortbread into thirds, then in six the other way. Wipe the blade after each cut. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, or in the refrigerator or freezer. Keeps 3 days at room temperature (individually wrapped in plastic), 3 weeks refrigerated (also individually wrapped) or 3 months frozen. Note from Readinglady's post: Personally, I can't imagine this lasting 3 weeks in the refrigerator. I hope you enjoy it. Let us know how it works with the bottled curd. I believe I ended up using it in a recipe Ann-t posted for Shortbread Tarts with Lemon Filling Posted by ann_t Source: Appeal Magazine Shortbread crust 1 cup butter softened 1/2 cup icing sugar 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch Filling 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice 1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest 1 cup granulated sugar 3 eggs well beaten 1/2 cups butter at room temperature Preheat oven to 325¢XF. Combine shortbread ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix to form dough. Divide dough into 24 pieces. Pat each portion of dough into a 1 1/2" (4 cm) tart tin, using your fingers to shape it into a shell. Prick the bottom of each tart with a fork. Bake 10 minutes and then prick bottoms again as the shells puff up. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow tarts to cool on a wire rack before filling. To prepare lemon filling, combine juice and zest in a double boiler. Whisk in sugar, eggs and butter, blending well. Place over gently boiling water and whisk constantly until mixture thickens. Cool before using to fill tart shells. Lemon filling can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Note from Thibeault¡¦s Table: I did not cook using a double boiler. I added the juice, zest, sugar and butter to the pot and brought to a boil. Then I beat the eggs and added some of the hot mixture to the eggs to temper before adding this egg mixture to the pan. I continued to stir over low heat until the mixture thickened. These were wonderful. My pics weren't very good, so I found the ones Ann took of her tarts on Thibeault's Table. Thanks Ann, for sharing!!