Weekly Dish

Don’t get me wrong. I love chocolate as much as the next girl. But really and truly, fruit is where my heart is. Usually, if given the choice, I pick lighter, brighter fruity desserts over dark, rich chocolate ones. It doesn’t mean I won’t pick chocolate occasionally, or even that I don’t have serious chocolate cravings every now and again–I do. But by and large, the simplest, fruit-flavored sweets are the ones that win me over.

Lemon curd has had me hooked from the day we first met, in my kitchen in Jackson several years ago. I was working as the editor of a regional magazine, a job that required an arsenal of skills I didn’t know I had when I was hired (like knowing how to spell 27 varieties of lace for the bridal edition), and I volunteered to make lemon curd for a photo shoot. I don’t even know that I’d ever had it before, and I was quite intimidated by all the zesting and juicing of the lemons. But once I’d made it through all 6 lemons and the curd had arrived at the right consistency, the velvety substance had me swooning.

I could, given the chance, consume large quantities of lemon curd with a spoon, all by itself, and be quite content. But I love it most of all with strawberries. The tangle of tart and sweet, butter and sugar, berry and citrus makes my heart flutter and my tastebuds melt. And if the lemons I curd just happen to be Meyer lemons and the strawberries the first of the season, well, that’s what I have to call love. Pure and simple.

The only thing more delicious to me than this dessert is life with my sweet husband. May your Valentine’s Day bring you such happiness too!

Simple Lemon Curd
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
Juice and zest of about 6 regular lemons or 4 Meyer lemons (the juice should equal about a cup to a cup and a half)
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the eggs, sugar, juice, and zest together vigorously, until well-blended. Cook slowly over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. You MUST keep stirring, or the eggs will cook unevenly and curdle (you don’t want that!). This process usually takes about 15-20 minutes, so be prepared to stir for awhile (I usually pull up a bar stool and put a book in my lap). When it’s done, it should easily coat a spoon. Then, remove it from the heat and stir in the butter until it melts. The mixture will thicken more on refrigeration. It will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks in a tightly sealed container. Of course, it never lasts that long at our house! Spoon over berries, cake, toast, your Valentine…whatever suits your fancy.

This recipe is this week’s submission to ARF Tuesdays over at Sweetnicks.

Posted: Tuesday, February 14th, 2006 at 1:33 pm Filed under: Something Sweet, Basic Recipes, Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.