After finishing off a few beers last Friday evening, I wandered into the kitchen to make a start on the gin and tonics. It was meant to be a fleeting visit to the drinks shelf but when I looked amongst the fruit for a lime or lemon for my drink, I noticed we must've bought a small bag of unwaxed lemons as oppose to the usual lonely yellow chap rolling around the fridge waiting to die. As soon as I had cut one of the little lemons I became instantly sidetracked by the smell, I tend to do this when I have had a few drinks, I forgot what my main reason to come in the kitchen was and before I knew it I was turning to the fridge and the cupboards to see if they knew why I was there. Lemon curd takes just a few minutes to knock up, well about half an hour from start to finish, and fueled by gin I set about the kitchen with the thought of a lemon meringue pie the next day. Drinking gin along the way isn't for everybody though. You could find yourself sat in the corner clutching the whisk and crying. Mothers ruin - was it the gin, or secretly the lemon curd?LEMON CURD
grated zest and juice of 3 unwaxed lemons (more if you like)
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs and an extra yolk
75g butter diced
Place a heat-proof glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water though) and chuck your lemon juice and zest, caster sugar and butter in. Stir occasionally until it has all melted down into a lemony liquor.
Pour in your beaten egg bit by bit and whisk slowly in the same direction for a few minutes. Leave the curd to thicken and stir now only occasionally. Once it becomes thick and has a good bit of resistance to the whisk, remove from the heat and leave to come to room temperature.
Now either spoon into sterilised jars and refrigerate or use in your lemon meringue pie like I did.
