creamy honey sweetened meyer lemon curd
Lemon has and always will be one of my favourite flavours. I find desserts made with lemon are so refreshing and always feel a little less indulgent (although not always true they just feel that way to me) because they have that fresh citrus lightness about them. Growing up every year for any holiday I would beg my Mom to make lemon meringue pie and every year she would say “but don’t you want to try something different maybe?”, “nope lemon pie please” was always my reply. I am not even sure if it was the pie that I wanted but more the tangy, sweet lemon flavouring that I craved and loved. Because truth be told I love a lot of different kinds of pies, blueberry, mixed berries, peach, raspberry, blackberry, apple, I could go on. But because pies were a special occasion and rarely made I needed that lemon taste fulfilled.
Anyways this post is not even about pies, with spring and summer coming up though you can expect a plethora of pies and galette’s (what I call the lazy version of a pie and maybe even more delightful) to pop up on this blog. But this post is about curd, honey sweetened meyer lemon curd. Smooth and creamy, thick and luxurious, sweet yet tangy with a large splash of fresh real lemon flavour this curd is spring in a glass jar. I don’t use regular granulated sugar anymore, and trust me I understand that a sugar is a sugar, I just feel better about putting things in my body with the least amount of processing. Hence why you will mainly only see honey, dates and maple syrup in my recipes. I do use the occasional organic icing sugar for cake icings because it is really hard to find a substitute for that but most of the time honey, dates and maple syrup can be used to replace white and browns sugars. Actually to be honest I like the flavouring of the natural sugars so much more too, since I haven't used white or brown sugars in my baking for a long time when I have something made with one it is almost overpowering.
I don’t necessarily have a golden rule as to when I use honey, dates or maple syrup. I find honey is great in desserts where the sugar needs to be warmed up. As it is quite heavy it can be hard to bake with sometimes as it weights down the rising process (although my trick for that is putting it in a stand mixer for about 5 minutes on high speed until it turns a translucent colour and air has been mixed into it making a little lighter). Maple syrup is great in baked goods and gives the batter a real richness without weighing anything down (you add it to your wet ingredients). Dates are great in raw desserts or when you are looking for more of a paste like substance like cinnamon buns (watch this space, coming up in a couple of weeks I have some date paste cinnamon buns to share with you) in which you boil the dates with some water until it becomes a thick paste that can be spread onto things.
I knew honey would be great in a curd and I adapted this recipe from A Whole New Twist just slightly. I used a unpasteurized local liquid honey, if you are using one that has hardened you will have to melt it to warm it up before using it in this recipe. You could also use regular lemons if you can not find meyer lemons (although if you make this curd this weekend you should find them as they are in season at the moment). I don't like it too sweet so do add more honey if your taste buds require it.
Paired perfectly on its own with some fresh fruit or you can top pancakes, crepes, waffles, or granola for a lemon breakfast. I topped some cinnamon buttermilk crepes with the lemon curd last weekend and it was delicious. I am actually sharing the recipe for the crepes next week so you can make them too.
honey sweetened meyer lemon curd
ingredients
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 + 1 tbsp raw honey*
½ cup fresh lemon juice
6 large tbsp of butter
1 tsp of pure vanilla
the zest of two meyer lemons
a pinch of Himalayan salt
directions
In a small sauce pan over medium/low heat on the stove, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and the honey until well combined. Make sure to consistently whisk the mixture while it is heating as to not cook the eggs.
Add the butter, lemon juice, vanilla, salt, and zest, and whisk until the butter is melted and everything is well combined.
Continue to whisk constantly for about 5-8 minutes. The mixture will begin to lightly simmer and thicken.
Once thickened, using a spatula scrap the sides and empty the mixture into a glass jar (you can place it through a sieve if you don't want the zest but I keep it in).
Cool on the counter until it is room temperature and then cover and refrigerate. The curd will continue to thicken as it cools as well as overnight in the fridge.
notes
You can use regular lemons if you cannot find meyer lemons.
I have put as little as 1/4 cup of honey, it is quite tart at that amount. You could go as much as 1/2 cup depending on how sweet you like your curd to be.