Oranges and Lemons say the Bells of St Clements...

Ah...what to do with a glut of lemons?? I LOVE lemony anything...but particularly good old-fashioned Lemon Curd (which we called lemon honey as children...others call lemon butter...but when I grew up and found the old fashioned name (yes, older than me!) was lemon curd...I 'adopted' that and so my children have grown up with Lemon Curd!)..but as the saying goes..."a rose by any other name, will still smell as sweet"...or something like that!! lol...ANYWAY...whatever you call it, it's delicious!!! I had a lot of lemons waiting patiently in a bowl on my kitchen bench so i made a double batch...I think it filled a quart preserving jar and a smaller (prob medium sized) jar with stopper...m..mmm!

So..I took 6 lemons and peeled them with a potato peeler.

Add this to 2 cups of white sugar in your food processor and 'zap' until the peel turns to zest and is finely spread throughout the sugar. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl.

Next add 8 free range eggs.

And 1 and 1/3 cups of lemon juice - probably a couple more lemons than what you use for the zest.

Add 130g butter, melted. I use salted butter because that's what we grew up with...we didn't have unsalted butter in NZ back in the day (!) and even now it is not commonly used in the home. But you may use unsalted if you wish.

Whisk altogether till smooth.

Now cook on high in your microwave in 2 minute bursts, whisking well each 2 minutes, until cooked...the mix will be thick and opaque. It should take around 8 minutes.

And you're done! A bowl of delicious bubbling lemony goodness!!

(while it's cooking, you could whip up some pancake mix ready to cook while the curd cools...m..mmm!!)

Pour the hot curd into hot jars (cookbooks would say sterilised jars, but I just fill them with really hot water while the curd is cooking and then empty and dry them immediately before cooking...works for me!) Leave till cool before putting lids on (or you'll get an unsightly 'puddle' of white liquid on the surface from condensation forming on the inside of your lid whilst the mixture cools)..store in your refrigerator (fridge)...

My double mix made a quart jar and a smaller, medium sized jam jar of curd. I just love the old Agee preserving jars which is why I use them...most people would bottle this up in small jam sized jars. Whatever you like, that's what you should do!

Enjoy on pikelets, pancakes, as a cake topping or filling, swirled thru whipped cream or simply spread on hot buttered toast or fresh bread!!

As Julia would say...Bon Appetit!!!

luv jessie xx