Lemon Curd [Secret Recipe Club]

Today is the Secret Recipe Club reveal day.  I was assigned the blog Apron Strings, written by Donna and Anne, a birth mother and daughter reunited who have bonded over cooking and created a blog, a cookbook and more!  As busy mothers themselves, I'm sure they'll understand when I only ended up making half of one of their recipe.  I received the assignment about three weeks ago, but in the meantime, my job became temporarily (I hope!) more demanding, my family has been passing around every germ known to man, and to top it all off, we're hosting 15 college students at our house for a Central European inspired dinner today, the day of the reveal, which meant that I spent the weekend preparing for that instead of reading the directions on my chosen recipe.

So enough kvetching already!  Let's get to the recipe!  I chose Lemon Pie Parfait, which looked like an easy version of one of my favorite pies: Lemon Meringue Pie.  I've never made my own lemon curd, so I thought that this would be the perfect time to try it...ha!  I have all the ingredients on hand to make the parfaits, but then last night at 7:00pm when I was making the lemon curd, I read the following horrifying words: "Let cool and then refrigerate at least 8 hours, up to 24 hours."  My thoughts at the moment I read this aren't PG enough to write on this blog.  So I made a wonderfully silky and lemony lemon curd that's not ready for the big time--to be the star of the parfait.  Instead, I'm chilling most of the curd, but tested out a tiny bit in a crepe I was making for tomorrow evening.  Delicious!  I would suggest that if you're going to try it in a crepe that you fold it in with some whipped cream to cut the tanginess of the lemon, but since I love authentic tart lemon flavors, I liked it as is.  And I'm chomping at the bit to finally make the parfaits!

Lemon Curd
from Apron Strings

4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Zest from one lemon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place a medium saucepan with about 1-2 inches of water in it on the stove to boil.  Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large glass bowl until it turns light yellow and fluffy.  Place the glass bowl over the boiling water to create a double boiler.

Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk.  Cook over simmering water, whisking frequently, for about 15 minutes or until the curd becomes custard like (almost like a soft-set pudding).

Remove the bowl from the heat and add the butter, whisking until completely melted.  Let cool and refrigerate for at least eight hours, or up to 24 hours.

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