I've never before attempted a custard or curd (always afraid of scrambling the eggs), but the video and clear instructions made it seem so ridiculously easy that I gave it a try. Glad I did - it IS ridiculously easy! The curd came out fantastic, with the lemon tartness coming through even better the second day. The family and I all loved it, and I'll be making this again often, although with less sugar since it's a bit sweet for my personal preference (I don't normally have sugar, so don't go by my preference - stick to the recipe!)
Update 4 weeks later: I just put my fourth batch of curd in the fridge (lime this time) and now tweak it to match my personal taste (only 6 Tbsp of sugar, 2 Tbsp of butter, and 2 to 3 Tbsp of zest). This is now a staple in my house.
I just made this lemon curd and it turned out scrumptious! Cooling now in the frig! Lots of lemony tartness and so pretty! Mine was a lot more yellow, but I used fresh country eggs from my neighbor. Beautiful dark yellow yolks. I've been wanting to make this a long time and decided today was the day as I was afraid my bag of lemons would ruin before I could use them all. BTW, it took 4 lemons to make 2/3 cup of juice. Thought it might help others to know how many lemons to start with. Guess it also depends on how big they are, etc. Hope this helps! MAKE this recipe! You won't be disappointed.
So tart and delicious! You can't go wrong with Chef a John recipes and this is no exception. I needed to use up some egg yolks after making meringues so I used six yolks instead of the whole eggs called for and had no problems. I've never made a custard or curd before so I was nervous but this lemon curd turned out perfectly. So so lemony and tart and creamy. I needed seven large lemons to get the called for amount. I used 4 zested lemons. I had no issues with it not thickening up. I did let it set overnight. I paired it with the Gold cake from this site and a simple glaze. It is perfect, light fresh and summery.
I'm going to preface this by saying I've never had lemon curd so I don't know if this is normal but This came out VERY sweet! As it was my first time making this or any other lemon curd I resisted the urge to reduce or replace any of the sugar in the recipe and made it as written. It turned out a lovely consistency and was nice and lemon-y just too sweet.Got four stars because i am unaware if that's how it should be and because I would try again with much less sugar
I have never made lemon curd before, but now I make it a lot! So easy and delicious. Last year had a load of lemons and froze the juice in ice trays. I'm making this now with fresh juice from freezer.
First of all, I'd never had lemon curd before. Truth be told, up until a couple of years ago, I was a lemon dessert hater; ever since I first tasted lemon meringue pie that my grandmother just loved... Anyhow, this recipe and and the method is flawless. No need to mix the butter with the lemon eggs and sugar in a mixer first as I read else where.
I used lime instead of lemon (a little less than 1/2 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice) and added a little water (too much actually, instead of 2/3 cup liquid I accidentally used 3/4 cup liquid). Anyhow this worked perfectly, and this is coming from someone who likes to cook, but had never made lemon curd or hollandaise (sp) sauce.
I added additional zest for a more lemony flavor, and dispensed with the 'double boiler', instead cooking in a non stick saucepan with a non metallic whisk. Delish!
I've made this recipe a few times. Love it! I use slightly less sugar. I make it in the microwave, in increments of 30 sec. and then whisk in between. Works great every time. Typically, I crumble pieces of meringue shells into a stemmed glass, top with the lemon curd, and add a few berries. Great dessert!
Normally, I LOVE Chef John's recipe. This one, however, tanked. The metal bowl is a huge NO NO. Use a pyrex bowl and a silicone whisk for the recipe to turn out fine. If you use any metal while making lemon curd, it gives a horrible metallic flavor that you commonly find in commercially available lemon curd.
