I am a big fan of all things lemony. On those coldest winter days the fresh zesty aroma of beautiful ripe lemons makes me think of warm, sunny days, the blue skies and the light breeze… And in the past couple of weeks summer here in London was uncharacteristically hot and stifling, and things like ice-cold fresh lemonade and even lemon curd do a good job at cooling me down. Lemons are so versatile. I am lucky that my dearest also shares my love of lemons, so I do not have to eat all the things I cook with them 🙂

On Pinterest I have a “All things lemony” board and I pin any lemony recipes that catch my eye and then experiment with them from time to time. I rarely unpin the ones that did not work well for me (they cannot be bad as they have lemons as the main ingredient!), so the ones I have on there are real keepers!

The one recipe I do not actually have on my Pinterest board. Well, not yet, but I intend to pin it on there from this post so my Pinterest followers can also enjoy it: it is one of the most delicious lemon curd recipes I have ever tried. I have used this recipe for many-many years, I do not even remember where I got it from. It has never failed me and is so quick and easy, that I think even my hubby can do it (he is not the most skilled cook in the world and he is proud of it). He is very good at pressing the buttons of the microwave and indeed, this curd can be made in the microwave, and does take a few pushes of the buttons on it! Hmmm, maybe I will ask him to make the next batch just to prove how easy this recipe is.

It takes just four ingredients to me this lemony deliciousness

Well, it may be hard to believe, but all you need to make the tasty curd are lemon juice, eggs, sugar and butter. No starch or flour for thickening it is required! Oh, one thing you do need to have is a microwave-friendly bowl to put these ingredients into for cooking.

I tried to take a few pictures to show you step by step illustration of this simple process and I hope you can see that it really is not difficult!

Fresh butter will need to be melted before being mixed with sugar and zest

If you like to add a little texture to the curd, I would recommend adding the finely grated zest of the two lemons that are soon-to-be-juiced. You can omit the zest if you wish, though.

I love the texture of curd whether it has fine zest in it or is just smooth

Just look at these beauties – juicy lemony goodness…

Now that the zest is removed from the lemons, they are ready to be juiced

I have extracted every last drop of juice from these – do not want to waste one bit!

All that needs to be done now is mixing together the melted butter with sugar, grated zest and eggs. Just light whisking is enough – no need to whisk the eggs separately.

Once all the ingredients are combined, and the eggs are mixed in, add the lemon juice and start the cooking process. It should not take you more than 4 minutes from this point – cooking the curd in the microwave does not take long at all! You do need to whisk the mixture often and keep a close eye on how it is doing: it is important not to let the eggs cook!

This is what you will end up with: thickened glistening curd that covers the back of the spoon or the whisk.

All that needs to be done now is spooning the delicious curd into the jars 🙂

And, of course, eating it! Mmm, fresh lemon curd on lightly toasted brioche… Life is not a lemon, it is a pure lemony bliss.

Mmm, delicious. And I love using the beautiful Kerr quilted jar given to me by my dear friend from California

Enjoy and share the lemony love, my dear friends!

Quick and easy lemon curd

Makes around 450g/1lb

Ingredients

3 large eggs

75g (3oz or 1/3 cup) of unsalted butter

225g (7oz or 1 cup) white sugar – I normally use around half the amount as I like my curd to be quite tart

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

Method

1. Put the butter in a plastic or glass bowl (suitable for the microwave cooking) and heat it in the microwave for 50-60 seconds until it has melted.

2. Add the grated zest, sugar, mix well, then beat in the eggs. When mixture is well mixed together, add the lemon juice and cook in the microwave for approximately 3 1/2 – 4 minutes, whisking every minute until the mixture starts to thicken around the edges, then every 10-20 seconds until it is consistently thick.

3. Pour or spoon the curd into clean or sterilised jars, allow to cool before putting the lid on. Cover and store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

I use the highest power setting in my microwave – 900W.