The Very BEST (and easiest) Lemon Curd!

Many years ago, perhaps in the late 1970's or early 1980's, we would have Princess House Parties.
Princess House sold crystal and bone china.  You would be a hostess, inviting friends and neighbors
into your home and the representative would put on a display.  You would then feed your guests,
usually coffee and pastries, and they would place orders.

When I was hosting one of these Princess House Parties, I wanted to make petite tarts filled with
lemon.  I believe this recipe was from an old Gourmet magazine, but I can't be positive.  The very
interesting fact with this recipe is that it has no butter.  Yes, you read correctly......no butter.  So,
when you glance over the ingredients, rest assured that I did not omit anything.  Almost all recipes
for lemon curd call for butter, but not this one.

The absolute success for this is the quality of the lemons.  Nice large and very juicy lemons will
yield the loveliest, tartest lemon curd.

When zesting the lemons (or oranges), I prefer the zester tool.  The microplane does not work as well,
in that you don't have total control and may incorporate pith into your zest.

Since I plan to prepare meringues "nests" for Easter, having four egg whites remaining to freeze is perfect.

The Very BEST (and easiest) Lemon Curd

4 egg yolks

6 whole eggs

Beat eggs well and set aside.

zest of 4 large lemons

2 c. granulated sugar

Place in processor and process for 2 minutes

Juice the zested lemons.  The yield should be about 1-1/3 c. juice.  Add the juice to the eggs and

beat well.

Place a pot filled partially with water on stove to boil.

Place metal bowl with egg and sugar mixture that will fit over pot without touching the water.

Reduce the heat to medium.

Whisk constantly til mixture gets very frothy.

Continue whisking til mixture becomes thick.

The classic test is to make sure the curd coats the back of a spoon.

Strain the curd into another bowl, discarding anything remaining in the strainer.

Cool to room temperature.

The curd can be covered and kept in fridge or frozen for future use.

Oranges and limes can also be used to make curd.