In the kid's book "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" by Laura Numeroff, the mouse asks for a cookie then a glass of milk, then a mirror see his milk mustache, and so on. Each activity leads to the next. I am that mouse: I get some lemons to zest for my granola. I have some skinless lemons, so I make some lemon curd, which leaves me with two leftover egg whites. So, I make some pavlova, but then I've got some egg yolks... I'm sure you get the picture.
Too many lemon curd recipes contain 12 steps of drama! There is no need. Lemon curd is simple. My favorite recipe is adapted from Molly O'Neill's Lemon Curd for The New York Times.
Simple, Perfect Lemon Curd
Servings 6-8. Time 15-20 minutes including prepping and cooking.
Ingredients
2 large whole eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/8th teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lemon juice (3-4 lemons)
Zest from 1 lemon (roughly 1 tablespoon)
5 tablespoons butter, chopped
STEP ONE
Add eggs, yolks, and sugar to a 2.5 quart pan (a bigger or smaller pan will change cooking time). Whisk to combine. Then add salt, lemon juice, zest and chopped butter to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk to combine.
STEP TWO
Place pan with lemon mixture over medium/low heat. Whisk continuously for 6-10 minutes until curd begins to thicken and starts to retain its shape as you whisk (the way whipped cream does in the early stages). Remove from heat when curd is between 160-180 degrees. At this point, it's about preference. If you want your curd like a thick syrup, remove it from heat a bit sooner (no less than160 degrees). If you want it more like jelly, cook a few minutes longer (up to 180 degrees).
STEP THREE
After you remove pan from heat, strain curd through a mesh sieve. You'll have to work the curd through the sieve. I prefer a hard spatula for scraping any stuck curd that passes through the sieve but does not make it into the bowl.
Refrigerate curd until ready to use. Give cooled pan, sieve, and spoon to children to lick clean.
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