Bright and sunny lemon curd

Lemon curd is a favorite sweet of mine to make and due to my efforts in getting healthy, one that I haven’t made in years. We made Christmas cookies over the weekend and it seemed like the perfect accompaniment to lemon drop and sugar cookies! It also seemed appropriate for the weather – despite being December in Maryland, it hit 70 degrees the day I made this and I couldn’t have been happier for the warmth! I’m not at all a fan of winter or the cold, but the color and texture of lemon curd reminds me of the spring.

My lemon curd recipe is based on Alton Brown’s version and came out perfect!

Ingredients

10 egg yolks
2 cups sugar
Juice from four large lemons and zest (about 3/4 cup of juice)
2 sticks butter

Directions

Whisk egg yolks, lemon juice, and zest in a bowl. Transfer to a medium sized sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, taking care to touch the bottom of the pot. Cook the curd for about 10 minutes or until thickened. Turn the heat off and mix in small pieces of the butter at a time. Then, strain the lemon curd through a mesh strainer so the finished curd has a smooth texture. Finish by pouring the curd into a bowl, seal with a layer of plastic wrap that touches the entire surface of the curd, and refrigerate.

Aside from more cookies, I happened to find another one of Alton Brown’s recipes that I’d love to try for the holidays – homemade marshmallows! There are a lot of different flavors that could be used for that and I bet our stash of homemade vanilla would make great tasting marshmallows – I’ll have to share that recipe too. You’ll never buy vanilla from the store again after making it yourself!