Meyer Lemon Curd

Meyer Lemon Curd

Honoring Huma Bhabha

Adapted from Kate Zukerman’s “The Sweet Life” by Blue Heron Kitchen

Huma Bhaba doesn’t know me; and it’s unlikely that she will ever know me. Experiencing her work for the first time excited me.

Her work is extraordinary. If you live within reach of MoMA’s PS 1 in Long Island City, go.

(And have a meal at M. Wells while you’re at the museum, a culinary slam-dunk).

Thank you to my dear friend, Abby, who brought me four pounds of gorgeous Meyer lemons. Meyer lemons are a cross between lemons and tangerines. Look for them this time of year in the market. If you can’t find them, add strips of tangerine zest to the cooking lemon curd. Kate Zuckerman (pastry chef of the beloved and closed “Chanterelle” in NYC) claims you’ll come close. I would squirt a little tangerine juice in for fun.

The curd can be baked into a tart or stored in the refrigerator in a jar and used as a spread for toast, a filling for mini tartlets topped with a fresh raspberry or a fresh blueberry. Or just eat it with a spoon. It’s that good.

If you like to candy zest, remove the zest prior to squeezing the juice. Make sure that you don’t include the white pith. The rind of a Meyer lemon is thin, so if your peel has pith (say it 5 times fast), simply take a sharp paring knife and scrape it off – simple.

Some trucs that will make this flow:

Have your ice bath ready and waiting (I didn’t need it in a critical way, but it was helpful to set up the curd quickly as I didn’t use mine for a tart.)

If you’re baking a tart, use a Pâte Sucré (Sweet tart dough), pre-bake it and have the oven preheated to 325º F. and have a cookie sheet ready to place the soon-to-be filled tart onto. You’ll place it in the oven and bake the tart until the custard sets, about 10-15 minutes (or when you gently move the cookie sheet, the center doesn’t jiggle.) If you’re using cold curd, you’ll need some extra baking time. This will yield enough curd for an 8” tart.

When separating the eggs, have small snack bags or containers to put the whites (don’t bother if you’ve spilled some yolk into the white) into. Freeze the whites for later. Use them for meringues, angel food cake, finishing biscotti, or egg white omelets (ugh).

Use the best quality butter you can find. Make certain it is fresh. If it smells of anything other than fresh butter, chuck it.

You’ll need a bain-marie, which is a water bath. Take a saucepan, fill it with hot water and place it on the stove and then atop that, place a stainless mixing bowl. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water and that steam doesn’t burst out and into the mix. Keep the water at a simmer. If you’ve never done this before, slow and steady wins the race. If your water is really boiling, the curd will cook fast and become grainy. Too slow, and you’ll hate making citrus curd forever; and if you have a weak arm, like I do, you’ll be miserable. Find something in the middle.

If you have one, use a balloon whisk. It creates more air and more volume. If you don’t have one, go buy one. They’re great for beating eggs or cream into that dreamy Chantilly stage.

Use a rubber spatula to push the curd through a fine mesh strainer.

Put the lemon curd into a beautiful glass jar, and you’ve created a perfect gift.

So, why lemon curd and Huma Bhabha? Kismet.

While I wait for the book to arrive from Amazon, I’ll plan to go see the exhibit again. Bhabha’s show is up until April 1^st.

peace, love and (t)art,

jane

Meyer Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks, size large, room temperature

1 egg, size large, room temperature

½ cup, plus 4 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ cup strained Meyer lemon juice (about 4 lemons)

Zest of 1 Meyer lemon – in strips is fine. (If you’re using ‘regular’ lemons, opt for tangerine zest)

Generous pinch of salt

9 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature (Plugra, Kerrigold, or French are good choices.)

Procedure:

(Please read the trucs above so you’ll be prepared (mis-en-place). Making the lemon curd will take no time if you have ingredients prepped and ready.

In the bowl of the simmering bain-marie (water bath), whisk together the egg yolks, egg and sugar until mixed.

Add lemon juice, lemon zest and salt.

Whisk (fairly vigorously)  until the mixture has thickened and more or less doubled in volume. This will take 5 to 10 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when it holds the footprint (whiskprint?) of the whisk.

Remove from the heat and pass the curd through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.

Discard the zest.

If the curd is still HOT, place the bowl in the ice bath until the curd is warm to the touch. If the curd is already lukewarm, add the butter and with the whisk, mix vigorously, until it is completely incorporated.

The curd is ready to be baked, served or chilled.