Eggs and lemons

The girls are in full laying mode at the moment, and six chickens are giving us between four and six eggs a day at the moment.

Also, here in NZ it is citrus season, so we have plenty of oranges, mandarins, limes and lemons. The lime tree is quite big, but as you can see below, the lemon tree is really small and yet has had a huge crop this year for it's size....

So when life gives you lots of eggs and lemons, what to do? Why, make lemon curd of course!

I use Delia Smith's recipe, and it is so easy. 

Lemon curd ingredients

3oz (75g) caster sugar

2oz (50g) unsalted butter

2 large beaten eggs

One large lemon

Put the caster sugar in a bowl, then the unsalted butter chopped in pieces, and 2 large beaten eggs, and the finely grated rind and juice of one large lemon. 

Put the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water....

After twenty minutes of stirring, it should look like this....

Can you believe how yummy yellow it is! I never seem to get that colour with bought eggs, even free range ones. The recipe says stir frequently, but I've made this recipe loads of times and I recommend that you stir it constantly for the full twenty minutes, getting right round the sides and the bottom. If you don't, you can end up with eggy lumps that look like bits of lard. They taste ok, but don't look good. Also, make sure the water is just barely simmering, not boiling. 

After twenty minutes, take it off the heat to cool down for a few minutes, before pouring into a clean jar.  Once it's cooled down, put in the fridge. Don't worry if it looks a bit runny, it will firm up. The recipe says eat within a week, but it should be ok for a few weeks - it never lasts that long in our house though!

I love my curd spread thickly on toast, but it's also nice in tarts. Just make some pastry shells, then fill with the warm curd. Put in the fridge to set. 

Yum yum!

Xx