Lemon Curd

A few weeks ago a friend in my cooking group brought a shopping bag full of lemons from her tree to share. I took a half dozen or so. Now what? It's still not hot enough to think about making lemonade, and I'd just made a lemon sorbet recently. So I turned the lemons into that wonderful teatime concoction, Lemon Curd.

Lemon Curd looks a little like a thinned-down lemony pudding. It is reminiscent of the yellow part of a good, homemade lemon meringue pie. (Not those horrible, gummy, storebought pies.!) It's made of just five ingredients--lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, butter, and eggs. That's it. It's fresher, brighter, richer, and not as cloyingly sweet as pie filling. And it's made in a matter of minutes.

Spread on scones or English muffins or crumpets, Lemon Curd is a staple at an English afternoon tea. I've also discovered it's heavenly used as a sauce for dunking fresh strawberries.