A British Lemon Curd With Soul

This heritage English treat is properly delicious.

The elderly British woman wore a crisp white apron and served me a silver tray with a pot of tea, a small plate of cream scones, and little bowls of Devonshire cream, raspberry jam, and lemon curd. I was in my late 20s and traveling in the rolling, green hills of the Yorkshire dales in England. I’d stopped to have tea in a quaint tea house. I had no idea what was about to happen.

She smiled and said, “Everything is made here, love — and the cook’s lemon curd is quite famous in our little village.”

I was keen to try it as British lemon curd has been around for centuries — the Victorians were gobbling it up back in the 1700s.

And then I did briefly think of the nasty neon yellow curd I’d bought from a store in Canada that hadn’t impressed me. But I was a huge lemon lover and well — the homemade lemon curd certainly looked innocent enough. It was a pale, creamy yellow and sat quietly in its little white dish.

I spread a little of the cream and lemon curd on my scone. I took a bite and then…

I fell in love on the spot — — the clouds parted, and a God-like stream of light beamed onto my head. Has it ever happened to you?

I’d just had lemon curd the way it was supposed to be. A proper combination of sweet and tanginess mixed with light. I kid you not.

Since that glorious day — I’ve been a bit of a maniac about making lemon curd. Because lemon lovers just can’t stop trying new lemony experiences. And then I even branched out and tried other types of fruit curds.

I’ve tried it all — Meyer lemon, rhubarb, grapefruit, and lime and they are all delicious. But my favorite curd is still from the reliable lemon you’ll find at your grocery store. I could make it in my sleep.

Years ago a friend made me a beautiful jar full of creamy lemon curd but she made a mistake that can happen to virgin lemon curd makers. It was filled with little strings of egg white that had curdled and she hadn’t strained it and well — scrambled eggs and lemon curd just don’t work together.

Of course, I still ate it. Because it was made with love and well — it was still homemade lemon curd.

Let me make this clear. I am not responsible for your upcoming lemon curd addiction once you make this recipe.

It is delicious with everything.

Scones, tarts, pancakes, pavlova, ginger cake, shortbread, lemon loaf or spread in a layer between angel food cake and covered with whipped cream. Jelly rolls, thumbprint cookies, crepes, and toast of course — but I won’t judge you if maybe you sneak into the fridge for a spoonful every now and then.

These things can happen.

British Lemon Curd

Makes 2 cups.

4 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

Step 1.

You can use either a double boiler or if you don’t own one— put a medium-sized saucepan on top of a smaller saucepan filled with water. Get the water boiling. It is what cooks your lemon curd without burning it.

Step 2.

Crack eggs into a medium-sized bowl — make sure you remove all the little white protein pieces attached to the yolks. You don’t want scrambled-egg-lemon- curd. Then whisk together sugar, salt, eggs, and yolks. Your whisk is super important to make this lemon curd for all steps.

Step 3.

In the medium-sized saucepan (or double-boiler) whisk together butter and lemon juice and bring to a boil.

Step 4.

I temper the egg mixture before I whisk it into the hot sugar and lemon juice. It really helps to stop the eggs from curdling.

Take 3 tablespoons of the hot sugar and lemon juice and put it into a small dish. Slowly stream a few tablespoons of your egg mixture into it — and whisk constantly. Then slowly add this mixture back to your main egg mixture and whisk, whisk, whisk.

Step 5:

Now slowly pour the egg mixture into the medium-sized saucepan filled with the hot lemon juice and sugar and whisk until combined. Whisk the entire time, turn the heat up to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. (I mean it — do not look at your phone.)

When the curd thickens, remove from heat and pour into spotlessly clean jars using a small funnel.

• If you end up with some curdled bits — don’t panic. Just put it through a strainer while the mixture is hot.

This keeps in the fridge for about two weeks. I highly doubt it will last that long.

Thanks for reading! I have loads of food essays (delicious recipes too) and thoughtful and quirky simpler living essays waiting for you. (Well over 100 of them!) And this story caught the attention of NBC News in New York!