Lemon Curd and Candied Lemon Peels

December 3, 2009

Over at Savouring where I blog about the snippets of our daily life there’s been a few posts on our neighborhood lemon tree and my obsessive pursuit of gettin’ me some, and when the first of the harvest arrived I had so many lemons that I was able to make a double batch of lemon curd and candied lemon peels.

Zest and and then juice 8 lemons. Be sure to remove any seeds. Crunchy isn’t considered a good thing in the world of lemon curd.

Place the zest and juice to the side. We’ll get back to them in a minute.

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Take one cup cold butter (2 cubes) and cut into 16-20 chunks and then return to refrigerator.

.Make yourself a double-boiler by paring one of your metal mixing bowls with a sauce pan. You should be able to put two inches of water in the saucepan and the bowl shouldn’t touch the water when you rest it on the top.

Remove the bowl and bring the water in the saucepan to a rapid simmer. While the water’s heating whisk 2 cups of sugar and 10 egg yolks in the metal bowl until thoroughly blended. Write a note for yourself so you don’t forget to have an egg-white omelet for breakfast.

To the blended sugar and yolk mixture add in the lemon zest and juice and mix thoroughly. Once the water in the saucepan has a fast simmer going on, turn it down to medium high, set the bowl on top and whisk continually for about 8-10 minutes or until the mixture thickens and you begin to notice bright yellow streaks showing up. Remove from the heat and still whisking, add the butter one piece at a time. Be sure that you don’t add more butter until the last addition is completely melted into the curd.

I made two batches and my arm was so tired from the first batch (time for a little more strength-training at the gym!) that I transferred the second batch directly from the stovetop to my standing mixer and let my little friend Kitchen Aid do the whisking while incorporating the butter.

Transfer the lemon curd to the refrigerator to cool, covering with a layer of plastic wrap directly on the curd surface to prevent it from developing a gummy skin. The lemon curd will last refrigerated for 10-14 days.

So now that you have lemon curd, what do you do with it?  You can start with sticking your finger in the jar and licking it but if you have a little more style than that….schmear some on a breakfast scone or biscuit, drop a dollop on the center of a thumbprint cookie, spackle it between two meringue cookies or ginger snaps, or put a spoonful on top of fresh berries and if you must with a drizzle of chocolate. For a super easy lemon pie, fold a cup of lemon curd into a pint of whipped whipping cream and spread in a pre-baked pie crust. Add a thin layer of plain whipped whipping cream to the top and decorate with a sprinkle of lemon zest or better yet, with candied lemon peels!

To make candied lemon peels (orange works too!), use a vegetable peeler to peel thin lemon strips. Take care to peel lightly so that you don’t pick up too much of the white flesh underneath but don’t worry, a little is fine. Once you have a saucepan of water boiling on the stove top drop the peels in and let them jacuzzi at an easy boil for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the saucepan from heat, tossing out the water and leaving the peels to drain on a stack of paper towels or in a colander. [The hot water bath softens the peels while removing some of the bitterness from the taste]

Bring two cups of sugar and one cup of water to a boil. If you use the same saucepan you just boiled the peels in either wash it first or at least wipe out the inside of the pan to remove the bitter oils that clung to the sides. Continue boiling the sugar water until it reaches 230 degrees on a candy thermometer. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, get one. If they don’t have candy thermometers in the Land of Oz where you apparently live you’ll know it’s ready when you can drop a little into a cup of really cold water and then form it into a soft little ball. If you can, you’re at the soft candy stage and all systems go! With the sugar water still on the heat add the peels and let them simmer in the hot goo for about 5 minutes before removing and draining.

To finish the candied zest, put a cup of white sugar into any small container you have with a lid. Toss in about one third of the now sticky peels and shake them in the container of sugar until they’re thoroughly coated. Remove and separate. Repeat with the next third. Shake and separate. Repeat. Rinse and shampoo. Repeat.

Store the candied lemon peels in an airtight container….that is until you decorate the top of your pie or just nibble on them for no particular reason other than it’s the weekend or Wednesday.

Here’s the little goodie plate I gave to six of our neighbors and with even more lemon curd remaining I think there’s going to be some mini lemon tarts at our church hospitality hour very soon in the future.

Posted in Apron Adventures, Daily Life, Food, Our Neighborhood