Barbara Kafka's Lemon Curd
Updated Oct. 12, 2023
- Total Time
- 24 minutes
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 9 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ½pound unsalted butter
- 1cup granulated sugar
- ½cup fresh lemon juice
- 1tablespoon finely grated or chopped lemon zest (of 2 lemons)
- 2tablespoons finely grated or chopped orange zest, optional
- 6large eggs
Preparation
- Step 1
Place butter, sugar, lemon juice and zests in an 8-cup glass measure or a 2½-quart souffle dish. Cover tightly with microwave plastic wrap. Cook at 100 percent power in a 650- to 700-watt oven for 4 minutes. Prick plastic to release steam.
- Step 2
Remove from oven and uncover. Whisk together eggs in a small bowl. Whisk about ¼ cup of the butter mixture into the eggs to warm them. Scrape egg mixture back into measure, whisking constantly. Cook uncovered for 3 minutes.
- Step 3
Leaving dish in oven, whisk until smooth. Cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes more. Remove from oven and puree in a food processor or blender until completely smooth. Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Private Notes
Comments
I was dubious, but this worked well and was very fast -- very good flavor. If you try it, be sure to check the wattage of your microwave. Mine was 1500 watts, for instance, so I did everything at 50% power.
This was terrific! I doubled the recipe, more or less, by using one full cup of lemon juice, and 10 eggs. It came out beautifully – the texture is perfect! I also did not feel any need at all to do the final step of running it through the food processor. It was totally smooth as it was. I use a vacuum sealing method to keep it in jars. That has worked very well in the past.
I have been working from Barbara's Microwave book since I was a kid. There is nothing like it. Everything works. I was skeptical about lemon curd, but of course it works. She is amazing.
I first made this recipe in 1987 when I bought Barbara's wonderful book "Microwave Gourmet", and I am so happy to see it reproduced here. Today I made it with passionfruit juice, and it was delicious and unusual. Since passionfruit is less tart than lemon, I used 3/4 C juice and 3/4 C sugar.
Made this today using the curd ingredients from the Ambrosia cake on this site - https://approvedpromo.info/recipes/1018713-ambrosia-cake%3C/a%3E. My microwave is 1100 watts so I did half the time, plus a little, instead of 50% power because I've had bad luck with that before. It needed a zatz in the Vitamix and it definitely needed to thicken up in the fridge but other than this this was so quick and easy! Much better than stirring over a hot stove praying it won't curdle
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