Ah, lemon curd. Excuse me while I go a bit gaga over that unassuming concoction of lemon, eggs, and butter, that smooth and rich lemon delivery vehicle, at once all tart and silken on the tongue. But even though I will gladly eat the stuff straight from the jar, I’ve also tasted my share of less-than-delightful specimens. While I think lemon curd is relatively fundamental and hopefully not too pretentious, there seems to be no end to the ways it can go wrong, from overly sweet and runny to unctuous, gloppy, and clogged with too many eggs. Let’s also not forget the dreaded curdling - like other members of that fine family of stovetop custards, lemon curd has to be cooked to just the right amount of thickness so that it cools to a spreadable consistency but before the eggs start cooking too much and leaving tell-tale white strands, those tiny flags of failure.
Of course, some people try to get around this is by pressing everything through a fine sieve, leaving the little eggy bits behind so no one is the wiser. You can also cook the lemon curd on a double boiler, keeping the eggs away from direct flame. I do think that with a bit of practice, the stovetop method becomes just as easy, but as I try not to be much of a cheater in the kitchen (cough-cough), I am all for whatever cooks it properly without relying on dirty tricks. There’s no reason to get complacent and ignore the eggs just because you have to press it through a sieve anyway (and besides, overcooked eggs will infuse the curd with an unpleasant eggy flavor that, er, trust me, can’t be pressed out).
But enough preaching about careful cooking and the ways it can be wronged. Why bother talking about lemon curd at all unless it’s completely extraordinary? It’s true that when it comes to food, I am not usually given to excessive superlatives…throwing around terms like “the best” or “the ultimate” is bound to get a gal in trouble, what with all those opinions running wild and ready for a fight. And I’m not sure if it means that I’m overly self-critical or just open-minded to think that there is almost always room for improvement or variation in a recipe. I mean, take my penchant for making so few things more than once…it’s not because of some frantic race to find the best, but because I can’t bear to pass by all the interesting possibilities that cross my path.
So getting into my rotating queue is not exactly like getting into Per Se - it just means that the returns have to be fairly high or the method particularly uncomplicated. Still, when it comes to basics, having a cache of favorites isn’t such a bad thing - they pave the way for experimentation, and you don’t have to worry about an eternal quest for a recipe that’s both reliable and above average in flavor.
Enter my favorite lemon curd recipe. It hasn’t got frills, unexpected ingredients, or even a clever cooking method. But it’s on the tart side, just the way I like it, not to mention luxurious in texture but not too eggy. For me, this one has the perfect balance of sweet, tart, and silken. I won’t start arguments about whether it’s the ultimate, but it’s the one I always return to…and I think you’ll like it, too.