If I had to choose a drug I was addicted to, it might Lemon Curd. It is easy to make. It stores for weeks in the refrigerator and I love it on Steel Cut Oats with fresh berries. You might want to check out my post on How to Make Steel Cut Oats, if you love oatmeal. These steel cut oats are made with a combination of milk and water which gives them a silky smooth texture.

Using Lemon Curd is easy to make and oh, so decedant. It is delicious in the middle of macarons, on yogurt or toast. It is a beautiful layer in a cake or inside cupcakes. Spreading on waffles or pancakes is divine, but adding them with homemade scones is delectable. The silky smooth texture and the burst of lemony flavor make it a favorite of mine.

How To Make Lemon Curd

1. Zesting the lemons is first. I love using a microplane. You can use a grater, but you have to be careful to not pull the white pith, the spongy white tissue lining a lemon, orange or grapefruit from the fruit. The microplane has very small edges that are not very deep that keep this from happening.

2. Mix the lemon zest into the sugar. This is the key to making anything with lemon zest. Place the lemon zest in the sugar and use your fingers to mash the zest into the sugar. This releases the oils from the lemon and creates the silky smooth texture you want. You can also use a food processor and pulse the sugar and lemon zest until it is well mixed. There is something earthy about getting my hands in the sugar and blending the zest. You want to really press the sugar and lemon zest together.

Mixing the lemon zest into the sugar is very important!

3. Beat the room temperature butter until light and fluffy. This takes about three minutes. Either using a stand mixer or a handheld one does not matter, but you want to beat the butter on high and scrape down the sides, often. Once you have beaten the butter until it is a lighter color than what you started with, you are ready to add the sugar.

4. Gradually pour the lemon zested sugar into the butter. Beat well for at least four minutes. There is something magically that happens when butter and sugar are blended together for an extended amount of time. This practice brings in air and whips the butter and sugar into a lighter, fluffier consistency. This is a great thing to do any time you are beating butter and sugar together.

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5. Using room temperature eggs, add them into the butter sugar mixture, one at a time. Room temperature eggs are an amazing thing. Room temperature eggs mix better into batters because they do not need to warm up, they mix much better. You can get them by leaving eggs on your counter for an hour or two before making this. You can also create them but taking eggs out of the refrigerator and placing them in a bowl with warm water (not hot water). Within 10 minutes the eggs should be room temperature. You want them to not feel cold when you touch them.

You can create room temperature eggs with a little warm water.

6. Add the lemon juice and salt. Mix well on a medium to high speed on your stand or hand held mixer. Sometimes when I add the lemon juice it looks like the batter is beginning to curdle. It kind of separates. Do not worry! This will all come back together when you begin to cook the Lemon Curd.

7. Pour the Lemon Curd batter into a medium saucepan. On medium high heat, stir consistently. You are basically making lemon pudding. You want to keep everything moving so the eggs heat up slowly and thicken as they cook. The eggs are what bind the butter and sugar together. As the mixture heats, it will begin to get thicker. This is what you want! Once the mixture begins to boil, turn the heat down slightly so it does not bubble up on your hands and burn you. Stir for exactly one minute at a rolling boil. You will begin to see the color change from the opaque yellow to a bright clear yellow. This only happens in the last minute or so. The Lemon Curd will get even thicker after you take it off the heat and refrigerate it.

Here are a few products I like to use when making Lemon Curd

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