Lemon Curd

This was insanely easy to make and of course I had to share my delight so after making it I put some of it in  jars and gave them away to a few people and they absolutely loved it!  I also made a pie (pictured below) My recommendation?  Make shortbread cookies and put lemon curd in between two of them for a delicious treat 

3 oz. (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter softened to room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yokes

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, about 2 min. Slowly add the eggs and yolks. Beat for 1 min. Mix in the lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled, but it will smooth out as it cooks. 

In a medium, heavy-based saucepan, cook the mixture over low heat until it looks smooth. (The curdled appearance disappears as the butter in the mixture melts.) Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. It should leave a path on the back of a spoon and will read 170°F on a thermometer. Don't let the mixture boil.

Transfer the curd to a bowl. Press plastic wrap on the surface of the lemon curd to keep a skin from forming and chill the curd in the refrigerator. The curd will thicken further as it cools. Covered tightly, it will keep in the refrigerator for a week and in the freezer for 2 months.

For key lime curd, substitute fresh lime juice (or Nelly & Joes Key Lime Juice) and a little key lime zest.

 ** I had step by step picture instructions but somehow (when I dropped my phone in the toilet at Animal Kingdom) a bunch of photo's were not synced back to my google photo's.  I do however have a picture of the curd in a graham cracker pie shell for a pie that I made for my cousins.  It was gone in under two days and was wonderfully tart, creamy and refreshing!  Enjoy