[Casey76]

I made my first pot of lemon curd yesterday, and I'm so amazed that it looks exactly like shop bought (though it is a bit more sharp lol)

Considering it was an act of desparation in order to save a cake I'm quite impressed with myself!  And I'm also amazed at how easy it was.

[tosca100]

Yummy yummy! 

[mumofstig]

ooooh lurverly!

What happenned to the cake that it needed saving?........or shouldn't I ask 

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

I love curds - I made the blackberry and apple one from a recipe provided on the forum and it's lovely.  Even my very ill grandad who hasn't got much appetite any more eats and enjoys it.

[Casey76]

@ MOS, there wasn't anything drastically wrong with it, it was just a bit flat.  Even dividing a 3 egg quantity of victoria sponge between two tins (one 8 in and one  7 inch d'oh... that's another story!) resulted in cakes not much more than half an inch deep.

It's the flour... Most of the flour available here is plain, and I used to have such hit and miss results adding baking powder that I resorted to buying the "cake flour" which has a raising agent in it, but the results are so spotty between the brands.

Then again, I made a great chocolate cake, same marg, sugar, flour, eggs, and it turned out perfect, but the lemon...

Anyway, once sandwiched and iced with feather icing it didn't look too bad - wouldn't win any shows, but it certainly disappeared quickly at work!

[joyfull]

wish you worked at my place I just love lemon cake with lemon curd (and in a perfect world lemon butter cream as well  ).

[Lindeggs]

I LOVE making lemon curd, putting it in pretty little jars and giving it as gifts.  Unfortunately mine seems to be the only house in the street that doesn't have a lemon tree.      However, my secret ingredient is macadamias!  I have a very prolific macadamia tree, so I collect the nuts and give them to the neighbours.  That way they can never turn me down when I ask for lemons! 

Every time I make a batch of lemon curd, I give the first jar to the neighbour whose lemons I used.  They really seem to appreciate it.

Just today I ordered six hens which will make their home in my back yard from January.  So from next year I will have back-yard pasture-fed eggs in my lemon curd.  I bet it will be even YUMMIER!

[tosca100]

We go to Greece every May, and all I can think of when seeing wasted lemons on the ground is home-made lemon curd. I think I need help!

[chrissie B]

we live here in greece and the ammount of fruit that goes to waste is shocking , down by the beach there are a few lemon trees in the gardens of holiday houses so we get some of them , i like to make my lemon curd in the microwave and it is on the sharp side which  i like as well .
its great mixed with some thick plain yoghurt .
chrissie b

[tosca100]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I strain my home made yogurt to get thick Greek style, and have lemon curd in it more often than not, but use a quality bought one.

The lemons, oranges and grapefruit "scrumped" while on holiday have much better texture, flavour and tenderness than the ones we get here. What really gets me is the tavernas and shops use imported ones while there are piles rotting yards away. Daft.

[catllar]

I LOVE making lemon curd, putting it in pretty little jars and giving it as gifts.  Unfortunately mine seems to be the only house in the street that doesn't have a lemon tree.      However, my secret ingredient is macadamias!  I have a very prolific macadamia tree, so I collect the nuts and give them to the neighbours.  That way they can never turn me down when I ask for lemons! 

Every time I make a batch of lemon curd, I give the first jar to the neighbour whose lemons I used.  They really seem to appreciate it.

Just today I ordered six hens which will make their home in my back yard from January.  So from next year I will have back-yard pasture-fed eggs in my lemon curd.  I bet it will be even YUMMIER!

Lindeggs - you have macadamias? How do you open the things without resorting to  a chainsaw? I bought some here recently and have nearly given myself a hernia - is there a trick to the beasts?

[Lindeggs]

Lindeggs - you have macadamias? How do you open the things without resorting to  a chainsaw? I bought some here recently and have nearly given myself a hernia - is there a trick to the beasts?

There certainly is a trick to it!  They must be the toughest nuts ever invented!    My trick it to roast them lightly while they are still in the shell.  I turn the oven to about 150 Deg C and put the nuts in a single layer on a tray.  Depending on the freshness of the nut and how dry they were to start with, the time to leave them in is really guess-work.  I toss them occasionally to make sure they roast evenly, but I don't think that's actually necessary if they are in a single layer.

The way to tell when they are ready is you can hear the kernel rattle inside the shell.  It means the flesh has seperated from the shell, and the shell will be brittle enough to crack.

You're better to roast them for a longer time at a lower temperature rather than speed it up - I tried to hurry my last batch along and burned the lot of them!  (Fortunately they were still edible so I made a big batch of macadamia dukkah.)

Even after the shell has dried it can be quite a trick to crack them.  I have a small vice-like gadget that I use.  Other people wrap each nut in a rag and whack it with a hammer.  Whatever method you use it's definitely labour-intensive!

[Kleftiwallah]

The memsaab won a cookery book (The Constance Spy Cookery Book) at school for her lemon curd.    Cheers,   Tony.

[catllar]

Wow, thanks Lindeggs I'll give that a try. Labour intensive but sooooo good!

[Aidy]

I made three jars of orange curd, used Vals recipe, really, really good, so good in fact on Monday when I made it, just after it had cooled and set, one jar was emptied by the wife, three kids and me 
Thanks Val.