Mar 21, 2011

Yellow goodness - lemon curd



Is there anything better than lemon curd? Golden, yellow, shiny, thick, sweet and tangy...so versatile. Yummy on a piece of fresh bread with a thick layer of mascarpone, nice on scones and divine in lemon meringue pies. And nothing better than some home made lemon curd, where you can adjust sweetness/acidity/creaminess to your own taste. Most recipes use whole eggs or a mix of whole eggs and egg yolks but I like the thickness and creaminess that yolks only produce. Plus, I get to use the leftover egg whites in macarons :).

Here is my favourite lemon curd recipe:
Recipe (makes a small jar):
250 ml freshly-squeezed lemon juice and zest of 2 lemons
200 gr sugar
170 gr unsalted butter
4 large egg yolks
Heat together the lemon juice, zest, sugar, and butter until butter has melted. Beat the yolks, and then whisk some of the warm lemon mixture into the eggs, stirring constantly, to warm them. Pour the egg mixture in the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until the mix becomes thick and shiny, low-medium heat.
Strain and enjoy!


Mar 20, 2011

One lonely muffin for lunch

There are so many great blogs I have discovered through Daring Bakers. I love it...at noon, kids in bed napping, I am curled up on the couch clicking away on my iPad, looking for the next thing to make, for that little special something that will intrigiue me and satisfy the tastes and the tummies of my two leading men (my third one is still only breastfeeding).
Last week took me to bakingobsession.com, an amazing blog run by fellow DB Vera. One of her recipes caugt my eye, zucchini muffins. As a mother of a picky two year old eater, I am always looking for ways to hide veggies that I want him to eat, and this one seemed just perfect. I divided the dough in two and made a second batch with parsnip, which was even tastier. Parsnip dissapeared in the background, leaving those moist, crunchy, aromatic, slighty sweet muffins.

End result was fantastic. I loved it, hubby loved it, my toddler loved it. Thank you, Vera!


Before I knew it, there was only one left for me to photograph...and have a lovely lunch the next day.