Wednesday 4 February 2009

A Taste of Summer


One of the advantages of being married to a fireman is that we tend to get severe weather warnings in advance - sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't but though I can hardly beleive it, judging by the bright blue sky today, there is another one for Thursday-Friday this week. Apparently, this one - if it happens - will be worse than Monday's. So I hope you haven't got a flight from Heathrow with British Airways planned!!

It is very cold here with a bitingly frosty wind, but although the weather still dictates winter warming foods, I'm starting to hanker for something lighter. Not yet though, it's too cold! So in an attempt at least to be able to taste the warmer weather in advance, I made some Lemon Curd. If you have never made lemon curd before, make this. If you taste home made lemon curd, you will never buy Robinsons' version ever again:



4 oz butter
8 oz granulated sugar
3 eggs plus 1 yolk beaten
grated rind and juice of 3 lemons

Melt butter in a pan, gently. Add sugar, eggs and extra yolk, lemon juice and rind. You might have to do a quick whisk at this stage, particularly if you have your own hens and the eggs are fresh from the coop. Cook gently without boiling until the curd thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon - do not overheat otherwise the mixture may curdle. Pour into clean dry jars - this recipe makes about 2 x 1lb jars. Store in a cool place and eat within 2 weeks.



(I also made 2 lemon drizzle cakes, but you can't see them, because they're in my tummy!)

Today MissT gave me a homegrown lemon from her conservatory ... OH! the smell! of real, fresh lemon!! A lemon tree is next on my garden shopping list (luckily I have unspent garden-centre vouchers for xmas.) I might substitute it's juice for vinegar next time I make mayonnaise. (Note to Italian Connection - plant some lemon trees!!).

And just to make sure that i'm ready at a moments notice, I bought this book. I already have most of the recipies in it, here and there in various other books, but this book puts them all in one place and is worth getting just for the inspirational and beautiful (not to mention summery) pictures.





18 comments:

Fancy Elastic said...

Oh man, that lemon curd looks the bomb! I made it once when i was a girl. lemons, yum.

xx

Kitty said...

My daughter LOVES lemon curd - thanks for the recipe, I think I'll give that a go at some point (now bookmarked in the flippin' overflowing folder!) x

Selfsewn said...

So many recipes now that I want to have a go at!!

madmummy said...

Oh, you've got me worried now about more snow, we had SO much of it sun/mon. Thank goodness I managed to grab a delivery slot for groceries as all our local shops are out of milk (something my little one can't live without!!). Crazy crazy!!
xxx Steph
ps. looking forward to bible pages arriving, although postman seems to be in hiding too...!! x

tess said...

oh yummy! If I get snowed in I'll just spend the day baking, and eating xxxx

laoi gaul~williams said...

oh lovely! we love lemon curd and are really fussy about shop bought~but i think this is simple enough for me to try my hand at :)

MissT said...

Yum - I'll give it a try with our 'crop'.

Do you like Canary Pudding? A dollop of lemon curd in the bottom of a pudding dish, and then put in your sponge pudding mix. When it's read, up end and you have an instant sauce.

Youm, yum, yum

Anonymous said...

mmm sounds delicious. I love anything lemony :)

Mrs Moog said...

I've always wanted to make lemon curd because I love it. The only thing that has put me off has been the use within 2 weeks thing. I might just have to have a go anyway and just happen to have a bag of lemons in the fridge.

Thanks for the recipe - I'll be doing that this weekend :-)

xxx

jennyflowerblue said...

Mmmmmm, victoria sponge with zest and juice, sandwiched with lemon curd. Please send cake, please send cake.....

Gina said...

Never made lemon curd but think I might have to give it a try now... especially jennyflower's suggestion of sandwiching sponge cakes with it... yum!

Indigo Blue said...

Yum Yum, I make lemon curd and I agree it is scrummy! I use is as a cake filling along with whipped cream. Makes a lovely birthday cake for the more mature birthday girl.

dottycookie said...

Lemon curd, mmmm - my very favourite, especially on home made bread straight from the oven ... which explains why I have a lot of weight to shift!

Kathi D said...

Mmmmmm, that looks fantastic!

Taz said...

Always happy to help someone laugh throught their hormones ;)

I'll have to give that lemon curd recipe a go as him indoor is partial to a bit of lemon curd. Thanks for sharing.

Gone to Earth said...

I love lemon curd to pieces and in cake ohhhh! We're pretty much snowed in here and the power keeps dipping which is a bit scary.

Anonymous said...

Almost looks too lovely to eat!

The Coffee Lady said...

ooh, lemon drizzle cake...

I seem to be drawn towards the kitchen