Lemon Love

If I had it my way, it wouldn't be lemonade that one supposedly should make when life hands them lemons, but lemon curd.




Luckily, the only lemons in my life are these beautiful golden jewels below, which are like globes of sunshine in this tiny apartment. The thing about lemon curd is that it isn't too much of any single sensation (tart, sweet, rich, light), but is the quiet sum of them all. I like to call it 'Lemon Love'. The other thing it has against lemonade is that it's spreadable, and who doesn't love slathering a layer of a delicious-anything over buttered toast in these chilly months?




This curd's uses are endless: spread on toast, top a pancake, layer a cake, dollop on ice cream, stir into yogurt. Heck, I've even stirred it into Earl Grey tea to both sweeten the tea and give it a kick of lemon. Why not?

This recipe is actually adapted from a lime curd recipe, and I substituted the lime juice for the same amount of lemon juice. Also, vanilla was a last-minute addition to warm up the flavor.

It must be noted that the cookbook this recipe came from, Nigella Lawson's 'How to be a Domestic Goddess', is divine. As with many of Lawson's books, its pages are filled with wit, luscious photography, and style - the type of cookbook that easily passes for bedtime reading. Tea, toast, and lemon curd are sometimes required.

Lemon Curd
Adapted from 'How to Be A Domestic Goddess'

Ingredients
6 Tbs unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1 tsp vanilla, optional
zest of 1 lemon

Instructions
Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add all the other ingredients and whisk to a custard over a gentle heat. Let cool before filling a jar - or a cake - with it. Keep it in the refrigerator. Makes about 1 3/4 cups.