Every housewife should have a classic recipe for lemon cream. No wonder this recipe is in two books by Anastasia Zurabova! And now you can check it out on the website. Lemon curd is an excellent product that is not only good on its own, but can also serve as a filling for various baked goods: from donuts and cupcakes to cheesecakes and tarts. This dessert is also an amazing sauce for cheesecakes, pancakes and pancakes. Light, fresh and aromatic cream that everyone will love!
What is lemon curd
In fact, this traditional British dessert is a fruit cream made from eggs, butter and sugar with the addition of fruit, usually citrus fruits. Since the 19th century, lemon curd has become a common part of English cuisine, served on bread and toast instead of jam. It is also used as a filling for baked goods.
Lemon cream differs from regular custard in its distinct citrus aroma and more uniform texture.
Kurd is not an independent dish; it is eaten with bread, toast, and also as part of numerous desserts. But it's time to start cooking!
Ingredients
- Lemon juice – 240 ml
- Zest of one lemon
- Yolk - 3 pcs
- Sugar - 150 g
- Corn starch - 20 g
- Butter - 60 g
- Salt - a pinch
How to cook
1. Pour lemon juice into a saucepan and heat over medium heat until almost boiling.
Hello, my dear girls and boys!
For most of us, desperate housewives and just housewives, autumn is the time to return to the kitchen, oven, hot dinners and freshly baked pastries. And no matter how much we resist it, in such cold weather it is simply impossible to resist the temptation to treat ourselves to a tasty, airy, aromatic and, most importantly, hot piece of fresh homemade pie. After all, we must not forget that food is not only carbohydrates and proteins, it is also the positive energy with which homemade pies are charged, if they are prepared with love. I began to notice with pleasure how my social media feeds gradually began to be filled with delicious homemade baked goods and the happy faces of the owners of these same baked goods.
But it's still summer in Greece! There are no yellow leaves (although there are never any here), people wear shorts and flip-flops, on weekends they still go to the sea to swim and sunbathe, and on the islands you can still meet belated tourists, in taverns and cafes people still sit outside even in the evenings . And only lemons and oranges ripening on the trees remind us that winter is coming.
I didn’t wait for the neighbor’s lemon tree to ripen and went and bought them at the market. Because it has been my plan for a long time to show you how to prepare real correct and rich lemon curd with fresh yolks and quality butter.
Who is a “Kurd” and what does lemons have to do with it?
The editor of a well-known culinary magazine, whom I respect very much, is actively fighting for the right to be called lemon curd. cream . She insists that the word “Kurd” in Russian can only mean the definition of an ethnic group living in Turkey. I can’t disagree with her, but you can’t go against the will of the people. But in the minds of the absolute majority of the Russian-speaking population of the planet, a stable phrase, a tracing-paper from the English language, has already formed and taken hold - “lemon curd”. So, it is this phrase that I will use in this context. Forgive me, dear Marianne.
Essentially, lemon curd is the same custard, or to be precise, a crème anglaise in which egg yolks are brewed, only instead of milk, lemon juice and zest are used.
Very often in recipes starch is added to lemon cream for thickness. In my opinion, this significantly spoils not only the taste, but also the texture of the Kurd. With the correct and only correct preparation, the curd turns out to be quite thick and homogeneous.
What I like most about lemon cream is that it's ready in no time!
Where can you apply lemon cream?
Fans of sour tastes can use lemon cream as a spread in any combination: with bread, buns, pancakes, pancakes, cheesecakes, etc.
I have a friend here, so give her a jar of Kurd, a larger spoon and she will be happy, and she won’t need anything else. Those who treat lemons more carefully can fill tarts, cakes, rolls, pastries or cupcakes with them. I usually cook with it and.
For me personally, the most optimal use of lemon curd is just a classic lemon pie with meringue. It is with neutral shortbread dough and sweet airy meringue that sour lemon curd goes perfectly well.
Anticipating your question, I will say: Yes, instead of lemons you can use oranges, tangerines, limes, and even various berries (preferably sour ones). At the same time, the preparation technology and ratios will remain the same. It’s just that such a cream will no longer have the characteristic lemon sourness. I advise you to try blood orange curd. The color turns out to be fire!
So, let's get down to step-by-step preparation!
From this amount of ingredients we will get a 250 ml jar of the finished product.
We will need:
- freshly squeezed lemon juice - 115 ml (2-3 pcs.)
- grated lemon zest - 2 tsp. (2 pcs.)
- sugar - 75 gr.
- egg yolks - 4 pcs.
- butter - 60 gr.
Step-by-step preparation:
For filling tarts, it is better to use Kurd while still warm. And for cakes, lemon cream must be cooled.
On this bright yellow note, I say goodbye, but not for long.
Good luck, love and patience.
Do you think that you have already tried everything and nothing will surprise you? You shouldn't think so. It was this recipe that became something of a revelation for me! You know, my emotions, when I was preparing it, reached peak power! From delight: “How lovely!”, to: “So simple?!”, and again to delight: “Wow!”
What is lemon curd? First I'll tell you about my impressions. This is tenderness, so magical, velvety that you take a spoonful of curd into your mouth and freeze with happiness while the cream melts in your mouth, spreading with all shades of sour-sweet-airy pleasure.
Now it remains to dispel the last secrets and tell how this tenderness is prepared. I’ll introduce you to the basic recipe that I picked up from Chadeika. And right away I will be happy to thank Irina Chadeeva not only for this recipe, but also for the tips and recommendations on her website.
Classic lemon curd
This dish of English cuisine is a custard, where the main ingredient is lemon. By the way, there are only 4 ingredients: egg, lemon, sugar and butter. Well, let's mix everything together to make a classic lemon curd?
I looked at Irina to see what the ratio of products should be. And based on this I prepare the portion I need. She advised taking 1 lemon for 1 egg, 10-15 g butter and 50 sugar.
I have accordingly:
- Lemon – 4 pcs.;
- Eggs – 4 pcs.;
- Sugar – 200 g;
- Butter – 40 g.
How to make lemon curd at home
I zest two lemons.
I add sugar to the zest. Mix well.
I squeeze the juice out of all four lemons. I add it to the zest and sugar. I stir.
I beat the eggs separately. No need to be overzealous, no foam needed, just a homogeneous mixture.
I add it to the rest of the ingredients. I mix everything well.
Now I let the future cream brew. The next step will be straining to separate the zest.
Therefore, an additional half hour gives the cream a chance to soak in and take on the taste and aroma of the zest.
Straining. This provides another advantage. Proteins that do not mix well with the bulk are also separated. And then, during heat treatment, white flakes will not form in the cream.
Place the saucepan with the mixture on medium heat.
I add oil.
Stir constantly until the cream thickens. If you run your finger along the spatula, the trace should not spread; in this case, the cream is ready (this is a standard test when preparing any cream).
The cooking process itself took about 10 minutes (not taking into account the half hour when the mixture with the zest was infused), of which 4-5 was for cooking.
There's just a little bit left to do. Pour into beautiful jars and place the curd in the refrigerator.
All! The bright, aromatic and incomparably delicious cream is ready! After it sits in the refrigerator, its consistency will become quite thick and incredibly tender.
And I will tell you about its advantages:
- Beautiful bright color;
- Useful;
- Delicious;
- Prepares quickly;
- Simple and affordable ingredients;
- Amazing aroma;
- Also, it can become the basis for other variations of the cream;
- You can use it to diversify your breakfast, prepare a number of desserts, or decorate a birthday cake.
In a word: how did I manage without it before?)
And one more plus! It keeps for a long time! Up to 2-3 weeks. Really, I would like to see the person who actually keeps this yummy food! Everything quickly and without a trace disappears before our eyes. Only a pleasant aftertaste remains, and the feeling that I myself am completely saturated with the freshness of lemon.
Lemon curd is perfect to balance the sickly sweet taste of meringue.
Traditionally, the British liked to spread lemon curd on their toast. Today this cream is used much more widely. They decorate some ready-made dishes, for example, cakes or pastries, where the curd acts as a cream. Kurd can be used as a filling for. 
You can fill baskets, grease pancakes, pancakes or donuts. This cream can also be used as a basis for the preparation of some desserts, where it is added in a semi-liquid state or already frozen. For example, these could be tarts. But who will stop us from “spoiling” the tender Kurd with anything and crushing this yummy with a spoon? Lemon curd can be used to prepare
Now let's diversify the recipe!
The principle of preparing lemon curd as a basis
You guessed it right! And instead of lemons, you can take any other citrus or berry that is quite sour. It could be oranges or limes. One of his friends said that he tried it with pomegranate and currants. All these ingredients can be either basic or additional. I'll tell you about lemon-tangerine curd.
Its advantage is a very delicate taste, the acidity of the lemon is so muted that the tangerine notes we love for the New Year holidays clearly appear.
How to cook tangerine curd
This is how quickly and easily you can please yourself and your loved ones with a wonderful cream!
- It is better not to use juice from the store for Kurd. This may ruin the cream itself. And one more thing: now the finished zest is on sale. Don't be tempted! Use fresh! It will be much tastier with it.
- To better squeeze the juice out of lemons, roll them on the table.
- The zest in this dish is not an indulgence or a decoration. She is one of the main ingredients. That’s why it’s worth adding it even if it’s, for example, pomegranate curd.
- If the eggs are small, take an extra number, 1 or 2, depending on the size.
- Sometimes the taste depends on the quality or variety of lemon. Therefore, to make the cream exactly the way you want it to be, you can add the juice of other citrus fruits: tangerine - to reduce acidity; lime - to increase it.
- Want to quickly zest? Place the lemon in the freezer for a few minutes.
- You can cook the curd in a water bath. This procedure will take more time, but the cream is guaranteed not to burn and the eggs will not curl.
Now, it seems, that’s it!)
Classic lemon curd makes an excellent filling for French macarons. You can watch how to make these delicious cakes on our You Tube video channel:
If I forgot something, or if you, my dear friends, have something to add to all of the above, leave a comment. I will be glad to know that you are interested in my experiments in the kitchen!
Bye bye!
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Even if you are not a fan of lemon-flavored desserts, you will definitely love lemon curd for its harmonious combination of sour and sweet flavors. At its core, it is a custard with a base of lemon juice. Kurd is prepared from different fruits - oranges, limes, strawberries, cherries - but the lemon one is beyond any competition.
The process of preparing curd is simple: the juice and zest of lemons, sugar are mixed with eggs and brewed until thick, after which butter is added to the cream. At the end of the process, the curd must be cooled so that it acquires its final thick consistency.
Preparation time: 15 minutes plus time for cooling the cream
Ingredients
For lemon curd you will need:
- 2 lemons
- 2 eggs
- 70 grams of sugar
- 55 grams butter
Preparation
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So your wonderful lemon curd is ready. All that remains is to cool it thoroughly and use it to your satisfaction.
First of all, prepare the lemons. It will take 3-4 medium fruits to get 100 ml of juice. But before squeezing the juice, remove the zest from all the lemons. Place citrus fruits in a colander and scald with boiling water, dry with a towel. Place a sheet of parchment on a fine grater to reduce zest loss. Remove the yellow part of the lemon, carefully wiping it from all sides. Afterwards, peel off the parchment with a knife.
Now squeeze out the juice in a way convenient for you. Roll the lemons on the table before squeezing. Cut in half and squeeze out the juice. You should get 100 ml of juice. 
Add medium-sized chicken eggs to a deep heatproof bowl. Pour in granulated sugar. Mix a little with a hand whisk. No need to beat. 
Add a pinch of salt and lemon zest. Stir. 
Pour in the squeezed juice, add pieces of butter and cornstarch. Stir.
Corn starch can be replaced with potato starch.
Now let's figure out how much to cook so that it turns out to be the desired consistency. . Pour water into a saucepan and boil. Place the bowl with the egg-sugar mixture in the bath. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the liquid, and the water should simmer slowly. Take a whisk and stir constantly until the mixture thickens. This process usually takes 2-3 minutes.
Once the mixture thickens, remove the bowl from the water bath.
Pass the cream through a fine strainer to remove any remaining zest and any lumps that have formed. This step is convenient to do with a hand whisk, turning it in a circle.
Prepare a bowl of ice water in advance. Place the bowl of cream in cold water and stir vigorously until the temperature drops below room temperature. In this way, we will prevent the appearance of a film on the surface of the cream.
Done, help yourself!
Delicious desserts to you!
