I've found a couple recipe ideas I really like lately on this blog. One was for lemon goat cheese tart, which turned out really yummy (I love goat cheese). The three layers work wonderfully together--kind of like lemon bars, but with the added bonus of a cheesecakey layer too. Mmm. It was one of those recipes where it took me forever because I kept trying to modify for things I didn't have (I don't have a tart pan, for example, but springform worked okay, and broiling in the oven worked instead of using a "kitchen torch"), but with some improvisation it worked. My favorite part, though, was the lemon curd I made for the top layer of the tart. Have you made lemon curd before? I hadn't. But right now, it tastes SO good to me---refreshing and summery. It's pretty sour, but in a good way. I like to eat it just plain! I made a big batch and so far we've eaten it in crepes with strawberries (which Sam made for Mother's Day breakfast yesterday---yum!), on top of ice cream (wonderful), and in the goat cheese tart. I also want to try it on angel-food cake or between layers of lemon cake, maybe in a trifle, and on scones. And I've had this lemon curd marbled cheesecake in my "to try" recipe file for a long time, but I never seem to have three packages of cream cheese on hand. It sounds good though!
Lemon Curd (from Epicurious.com) (I doubled this and still wished we had more. But then, maybe you won't be as obsessed with it as I am rapidly becoming.)
(UPDATE: I've changed the amounts to reflect the doubled recipe, as that is the one we always use.)
(UPDATE: I've changed the amounts to reflect the doubled recipe, as that is the one we always use.)
1 cup fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest, optional
1 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits
4 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest, optional
1 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits
You just whisk the lemon juice, zest, sugar, and eggs together in a saucepan. Turn the heat onto medium-low and stir in the butter. Then cook it (keep stirring so it won't scorch) until just to boiling point---it will get thick and look like pudding. (It takes 6 minutes or so.) Turn off the heat as soon as it's about to boil, stir it, transfer it to a bowl, and stick a piece of plastic wrap to the surface (so a skin won't form). Then you can keep it in the fridge and use it in things all week. If you are a generous person, you could also package it up in cute little jars, like this.
Shall we have a lemon dessert party sometime soon? Who's in?
You had me at lemon curd. oooh yum.
ReplyDeletewv: aceli
I have wanted to make lemon curd for a while now. I'm going to try it, all though I'll have to improvise with lime instead of lemon.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE recipes that use fresh lemon juice! Unfortunately, it takes effort to make these yummy recipes. Now I'm trying to decide if I have time to make the lemon curd before my girls are up from their naps.
broussis
For awhile I was totally hooked to those microwave lemon cake desserts. The Betty Crocker ones. I can't remember the name right now. A lemon cake with lemon curd. and it takes about a minute to make it then devour it. Yours looks way better. WAY.
ReplyDeleteA party? I'm in. A party with food? Even better!
ReplyDeleteI am so sad. I love lemon desserts, but sugar doesn't love me. I am beginning to suspect that fat on the body is actually a contributing factor to dementia, and to a herd of other really ugly things, and my fam (mother's side, mostly) tends to be insulin resistant. Which is part of the brain problem. My dog has what has just been defined as an "endocrine disease," which is like having diabetes or hypoglycemia or something - they're finding out that fat, especially when it reaches a certain critical mass, actually secretes hormones and other chemicals into the body, increasing anxiety and appetite and doing a host of other damage, overriding the body's own endocrine system.
ReplyDeleteSorry. Didn't mean to write all of that, but I think I'm going to quote myself later, because this is coming together in science now with frightening swiftness.
What I wanted to say is that lemon is just the way you describe it; gives me a little joy, somehow. And I'd love to do a lemon dessert thing, but I'd have to save up for a month to do it, and then I'd come with something I'd bought, because I don't cook anymore unless I'm chained to something really heavy.
M - you are so fun to read.