Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Here it is, from March 2009, our original microwave lemon curd post. It’s outrageously easy, and even more special these days, as we now make it with our homegrown lemons and backyard eggs. Over the years, we’ve adapted this microwave technique to both custard and pastry cream.

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I’ve just been on the phone to Christina, and I’ve promised her I’d post my lemon curd recipe.  Actually, it’s not really my recipe at all – I discovered it  here – and unbelievable as this sounds, it makes brilliant lemon curd in the microwave.

The first time I tried it, I made five batches, one after the other, because I simply couldn’t believe it was working.  I thought it was a fluke and kept waiting for it to fail, but it didn’t and I ended up with fifteen jars of lemon curd in the fridge, all of which had to be eaten within a few weeks.  Ah well, the neighbours were happy.

Microwave lemon curd

1. Zest two big lemons into a large pyrex bowl. Juice both lemons, and strain the juice into the bowl (you want about 150ml of lemon juice). Add 50g unsalted butter and 150g caster (superfine) sugar. Microwave on high for 2 minutes (my machine is 1100 watts). Take it out and give it a good stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved and butter melted. Allow to cool just slightly.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 large free range eggs and one egg yolk. Whisk well – you want it to be an homogenous yellow with no white stringy bits. Pour the eggs through a sieve into the butter mixture, whisking as you go (having an extra set of hands helps). Once it’s all combined, pop the pyrex bowl back into microwave.

3. Microwave for 30 seconds on high, then stir. Another 30 seconds on high, stir again. Then 1 minute on high, take it out, and give it a really good whisking until it becomes smooth and lemon curd like. You might need a little bit more time, but in my microwave, that’s it. You can then pour it into sterilised jars and stick it in the fridge, or pour it into a pre-baked tart shell and let it set in the fridge (which is how I made my tart), or you can freeze it.

You can also make passionfruit curd by adding 1/3 cup of passionfruit pulp when you add the eggs.  If you’re doing that, you might want to cut the lemon zest back a little bit.  Enjoy!

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More on making microwave lime curd here… A Bowl of Sunshine..