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Lemon Curd

I used a recipe from JoyofBaking.com. For this batch I just made 3 small 4oz jars, just to test the taste and consistency of the finished product. The jars just pinged, so I know they are sealed, but I'll wait until morning to open one up and see the results. I used bottled lemon juice from Safeway for this recipe, just to see what kind of flavor it would produce. The remainder at the bottom of the bowl was tasty, but a bit light in flavor. I might have to use fresh-squeezed lemon juice for the next batch.

Here's the basic recipe:

3 large eggs
1/3 cup of lemon juice
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

I mixed the eggs, lemon juice and sugar with a wire wisk in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Within 6 minutes the mixture was thick and I tried to put it through a sieve, but gave up and decided that it was smooth enough. Into the bowl with the lemon mixture I mixed the butter and the lemon zest. Once all the butter was incorporated, I put it into sterilized canning jars and placed it into the boiling water bath for 15 minutes. (I live at about 1400 feet above sea level.)

Note: there are instructions on the NCHFP site about how to safely can lemon curd. A critical piece of this is using bottled lemon juice. I did that and I found the curd to be positively delicious, even though I don't particularly care for the bottle lemon juice in other things. Here's a post about it: https://www.uga.edu/nchfp/papers/2006/06ift-lemoncurd.html and then a link to their recipe: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/lemon_curd.html. The above recipe is just a variation.

Lemon Curd

Reposted on January 19, 2010. See above for full post.

Citrus Challenge

Looks like I'll be canning something with citrus this month! I know just what I want to try too. This afternoon while I was making a banana cream pie I stumbled onto the page of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook that has the lemon curd recipe. And these 4 oz quilted Ball jars will be perfect for the project. Good for gifting too, but I don't know whether I'll be able to part with any of it. Okay, I'll try to be more generous in 2010. This seems like a good way to start.

Here's a post from the National Center for Home Food Preservation that gives a recipe and basic canning instructions: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/lemon_curd.html. I am irritated that they recommend using bottled lemon juice, but for the sake of safety, I think I'll take their advice.