When I was working on another preserved citrus recipe recently, I was trying to find the right words to describe the flavor of these complex little packets of sunshine. My brain stumbled on “a salty lemon curd without the texture.” Super eloquent and succinct, I know. My faulty wordsmithing notwithstanding, I did really think it hit the nail on the head. And then I thought how much preserved lemon curd would hit the spot. And then I thought about the fact that I also have preserved limes. And then I ran into my kitchen.
I am not a big baker, but I do make macarons every so often and I bake myself and my husband birthday cakes most years, so lemon curd is kind of a necessary recipe for me.
Your final product will have caramelic, salty citrus taste, with a touch of the complexity of preserved lemons. It will, therefore, be utterly addictive. Be sure your dessert is ready for it, otherwise it might just get eaten before you’re ready to use it. Keep in mind that you won’t necessarily get the same bright hue of a fresh lemon or lime curd, but it is still pretty. No reason
I took a couple jars of this curd to the most recent Philly Food Swap. It was on Monday and it was fabulous with a capital “ph.” Thanks to Alex Jones of the phenomenal Fair Food and the generosity of the fantastic Reading Terminal Market, we had our largest swap ever. It was pretty inspiring to see all of the makers from around Philadelphia showing off their wares. There were jams, marmalades, pickles, misos, crackers, dog treats, fruit ketchups, vegan cheeses, sausages, sriracha caramel corns and SO much more, all made from scratch. It was overwhelming in the best possible way. As always, I felt very proud of our Philly community of makers. If you’d like more information on the Food Swap, you can follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
Preserved Lemon Curd
Adapted from this Epicurious lemon curd recipe (from the April 2001 issue of Gourmet)
If you’d like to make preserved lime curd, just substitute lime anywhere you see the word lemon. This is fantastic on pound cake or for an extremely decadent Mother’s Day French Toast!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh lemon zest
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup preserved lemon pulp and liquid
- 1 preserved lemon, pulp and peel
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 5 large egg yolks, lightly whisked
- 1 3/4 sticks (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
- Place your lemon liquids in a small food processor or blender with your preserved lemon and process until preserved lemon is mostly liquefied.
- Pour into a saucepan and add zest, sugar, egg yolks and whisk to combine.
- Cook at medium-low heat and stir constantly for about 10 minutes, until your curd can thickly coat the back of a spoon.
- Throw butter chunks into hot curd and stir until they are melted and incorporated.
- Pour curd through a fine sieve into a bowl. You will likely have some small chunks of preserved lemon. That’s okay!
- Cover and chill for at least one hour.
PS- My Fermentation Basics class for Greensgrow on Saturday has a larger capacity than usual and there still 5 spots remaining! Get your tickets here!
Angela Watts says
I love you! Finally a perfect fall back if I make preserved lemons and can’t convince my husband to eat them on foods….now I can try out making them and have an excuse to make up some curd as well.
Amanda says
Awww! Thank you! That’s awesome! Preserved lemons are so simple to make! The only kicker is waiting a month to eat them! I always make giant batches, but the main reason I use them in so many things is how good they taste. They are kind of my go-to secret ingredient, since even in super small quantities they enhance the flavor of everything. I promise if you chop up a tablespoon and throw it in a pasta dish, people will swear it’s the best pasta they’ve ever had and they won’t know why!
Let me know how it goes!
Roberta Dinnie says
I second that !
Victoria says
Thank you for this recipe. I have a half jar of preserved lemons and I’m trying to figure out what to do with them!