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..

After the debacle with the bought puff pastry, I was a bit nervous about the packet of fillo that was still sitting in my freezer.

I shouldn’t have been, because it was superb – it was easy to handle and it baked to perfection. I’d bought a kilo of Brancourt’s farm style cottage cheese on my last visit to Costco, so I thought I’d try making June’s cheese cake recipe as a strudel…

• 500g European style cottage cheese
• 3 eggs, divided into yolks and whites
• 3 – 4 Tbsp icing sugar mixture
• 150g thick sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Rind of 1/2 lemon
• 1 large Tbsp of semolina
• 1/2 cup sultanas
• 1 – 2 tsp fine breadcrumbs
• 10 sheets of fillo pastry
• 80g unsalted butter, melted

Put the cottage cheese into a large mixing bowl, and break it up with a fork.  Add the egg yolks, icing sugar mixture, sour cream and vanilla and mix to combine. Using a potato masher, mash the mix together to create a smooth consistency, then add the lemon rind and semolina.  Keep mashing until smooth, then stir in the sultanas.

Beat the eggwhites until stiff, then fold half into the filling with a fork. Once combined, gently fold the other half of the eggwhites into the filling.

Assembly:

Lay a sheet of fillo pastry on the bench, and brush it lightly with melted butter. Lay another sheet on top, and brush it with butter, repeating until you’ve built up a stack of five sheets.

Sprinkle the top sheet with breadcrumbs, then spoon out half the filling into a log shape across the bottom of the pastry stack (working in landscape here rather than portrait). Leave an edge at the bottom and on the sides to allow for folding.

Fold in the sides to encase the filling, then carefully roll up the strudel. Brush the top edge with more butter, then seal the roll closed.

Flip the strudel over so that the seam is on the bottom, then place on a lined baking tray. Repeat with the other sheets and remaining filling. Brush both logs with more melted butter, then bake in a preheated 175C with fan oven for 30 – 40 minutes.

Transfer the baked strudel onto a wire rack to cool, then dust over the top with sifted icing sugar…

This is a delicious alternative to the Hungarian cottage cheese cake that we usually make – the fillo pastry is much lighter than the shortcrust pastry in the original recipe. Pete still prefers the slice, but Big Boy loved this version…

Oh, and I turned the leftover fillo sheets into egg and ham pies!