Laissez Faire Lemon Curd
SKU:
No constant stirring, precision food thermometers, or pesky, messy straining with a sieve.
Fully finished snappy, puckery lemon curd from zero to sixty with four simple ingredients.
PSA: Uses the Instant Pot that our dog got us for Christmas, plus a heatproof 4-cup glass bowl that will fit completely into the Instant Pot.
Fully finished snappy, puckery lemon curd from zero to sixty with four simple ingredients.
PSA: Uses the Instant Pot that our dog got us for Christmas, plus a heatproof 4-cup glass bowl that will fit completely into the Instant Pot.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups of water
½ a block of butter (¼ cup)
¾ cups of white sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
Juice of 3 lemons (about ¾ of a cup)
Zest from 2 of the above lemons (about 2t)
½ a block of butter (¼ cup)
¾ cups of white sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
Juice of 3 lemons (about ¾ of a cup)
Zest from 2 of the above lemons (about 2t)
What To Do
To prep, pour 1 ½ cups of water into the Instant Pot. Put the wire rack into the water so that you have a platform for your glass bowl.
Make sure that your heatproof glass bowl will fit completely into the platform of your Instant Pot. I use a pyrex mixing bowl that holds 4 cups of liquid, almost to the rim. This is ample space for the finished lemon curd. Measure out a piece of parchment paper that will cover the glass bowl and set it aside.
Melt butter in the microwave and let cool slightly. While the butter cools, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar in your heatproof glass bowl. Whisk in cooled melted butter last. The mixture will seem alarmingly liquidey, but don't worry.
Place a heatproof glass bowl of proto-lemon curd onto the rack in the Instant Pot. Put the a parchment paper on top of the glass bowl. Close Instant Pot lid and pressure cook on high for ten minutes
Let it vent naturally. There is no need to press the release button. Just wait for the pin to drop, about 15-20 minutes.
Once the pin drops, take the bowl out. The bowl WILL STILL BE HOT, so use oven mitts and be careful. Remove parchment, and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Whisk to smooth it out, and let it go for another 10 minutes. Whisk once more. Whisking while cooling makes the curd smooth.
Refrigerate in an airtight container. Curd will naturally thicken up as it cools, so says my favorite husband, who has made this a few times.
Make sure that your heatproof glass bowl will fit completely into the platform of your Instant Pot. I use a pyrex mixing bowl that holds 4 cups of liquid, almost to the rim. This is ample space for the finished lemon curd. Measure out a piece of parchment paper that will cover the glass bowl and set it aside.
Melt butter in the microwave and let cool slightly. While the butter cools, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar in your heatproof glass bowl. Whisk in cooled melted butter last. The mixture will seem alarmingly liquidey, but don't worry.
Place a heatproof glass bowl of proto-lemon curd onto the rack in the Instant Pot. Put the a parchment paper on top of the glass bowl. Close Instant Pot lid and pressure cook on high for ten minutes
Let it vent naturally. There is no need to press the release button. Just wait for the pin to drop, about 15-20 minutes.
Once the pin drops, take the bowl out. The bowl WILL STILL BE HOT, so use oven mitts and be careful. Remove parchment, and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Whisk to smooth it out, and let it go for another 10 minutes. Whisk once more. Whisking while cooling makes the curd smooth.
Refrigerate in an airtight container. Curd will naturally thicken up as it cools, so says my favorite husband, who has made this a few times.
Notes and Talking Story
- We make this much more often using the Instant Pot method.
- We used to do a stove top method, but using the Instant Pot is simpler, requires much less constant attention, and you don't have to worry about getting icky lemon scrambled eggs if you get the temperature wrong.
- Curd is such an ill-fitting word for smooth, spreadable lemon goodness. It's much closer to velvet-lemon-meringue-filling-that-you-wish-you-could-drink. Too bad there's no elegant word to encapsulate that!
