Lemon Curd Recipe

Hello friends! I finally found the time to write up that lemon curd recipe for you! Remember all the way back to that cheesecake recipe where I showed it topped with lemon curd, but didn't tell you how to make any? Yes, I'm evil. Just ask my husband! ;)

I'm going to make you wait for that recipe for just a minute more (see, Ben was right about the whole evil thing!). It has been overcast with showers for a few days now out here in the islands. But back on Saturday our afternoon weather was just beautiful. You would have never known it would be raining by evening.

 Ben and his dad decided to go kayaking, and I was planning on taking Izzie for a walk.

 Well, the guys chose Medicine beach as a launch spot, and it's about 5 miles from our house. They drove, and we walked.

 Izzie and I spent some nice time on the beach, and had a snack. I read my book while she napped...

but not before rolling in some unknown but very stinky beach funk which stuck to her neck. Great.

Eventually the guys showed up from their mini kayak adventure, and we all drove home together. Ah, I just love the weekends!

Ok, now that I have made you suffer, here is the lemon curd recipe. From Cathy Burgett, as usual. Her recipe's are my baking staples!

Lemon Curd
zest from 6 lemons
juice from 6 lemons (1 cup)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
6 eggs
12 egg yolks
9 oz. butter

-Place the eggs and egg yolks in a large bowl that will fit over a water bath.
-Whisk in the other ingredients to mix, and continue whisking over hot, simmering water until the butter is melted and the curd is thick.
-Remove from the heat and strain into a clean, dry bowl.
-Cover the curd with plastic wrap, pressing it right down onto the curd so it doesn't form a skin, and refrigerate.
-Lemon curd will keep in the refrigerator for about 5 days, and it will freeze, well-covered, for 2 months.

Yield: 1 qt. lemon curd

You can also make this recipe using oranges, limes or other citrus (think blood oranges!). I used it as a cheesecake topping, but it is also good over ice cream, as the filling in a layer cake, in tart shells, over fresh berries, or by the spoonful (my favorite)! Try it in crepes, or use it as a layer in a parfait! The uses are endless.

Enjoy!

The BEST Vanilla Cheesecake

Many years ago now, one Thanksgiving, my dad and I decided to try making cheesecake for the holiday dessert. He was a chef, so that was no biggie for him, but for me it was quite the undertaking. Cheesecake seemed very intimidating, so easy to screw up, and complicated!

With dad's help we found a recipe, tweaked it a bit, and got to work. We had a great time, and the cheesecake was a huge success. It looked beautiful. We ate all of it! We decided it was a spectacular recipe, and I started making it by myself. It got to the point where I was selling custom cheesecakes to friends, and friends of friends for a couple years. It was really fun! It's also still my favorite cheesecake recipe. Because the filling is just vanilla it is perfectly versatile. Any topping is amazing on it, or you could add liqueurs to the filling, drop in berries, or mix chocolate into part of it for a marbled effect.

So here it is. My favorite cheesecake recipe!

Vanilla cheesecake

Crust:

12 vanilla sandwich cookies (vienna fingers, or twice as many vanilla oreos)

5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temp

1/4 cup sugar

Filling:

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temp

1 cup sugar

pinch of salt

4 large eggs

For the crust: Position rack in center of oven and reheat to 350*. Wrap outside of 9 inch spring form pan with foil.

Blend cookies, butter and sugar in processor until crumbs stick together.

Press crumbs on bottom and halfway up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust 10 minutes and set aside. Maintain oven temp.

For filling: Blend cheese, sugar and salt in a food processor until very smooth, stopping often to scrape down sides of work bowl.

Add vanilla and cream and blend again. Add eggs, process 5 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl. Process just until blended, about 5 seconds more.

Transfer filling to crust. Bake cake until sides puff slightly and center is just set, about 50 minutes. A bit of cracking around the edges is normal, a very slight bit of color is ok. When you give it a small shake it should jiggle a little bit.

Place uncovered hot cheesecake directly into refrigerator and chill thoroughly. It will fall a little bit, which is normal. After about an hour a topping can be added. Chill at least 6 hours or overnight. To remove from pan, run a knife around edges and remove sides of pan. Want perfect slices? Wipe knife clean with a hot wet cloth after EVERY cut!

I had some lemon curd that I had made, so that went on top. The tangy lemon curd was amazing with the creamy vanilla cheesecake.

What else can go on top? Fruit toppings, ganache, caramel, candy bar bits, lime or orange curd, or just have it plain!

Cheesecake is NOT hard! You can make it! It's worth it! The hard part is not eating all of it immediately!

Good luck, and happy eating!

Glo Bar's Galore!

Hello, all!

Yesterday was my super long double shift day, so no post. I did my usual 6.5 mile bike ride to work in the morning, and it was early enough that the heat hadn't set in yet, so it was very pleasant. I think I'm even improving a bit! Hurray!

I grabbed a Glo bar for breakfast. So chewy and good!

At work with Nora we spent the day getting ready for our wholesale orders. I made cheesecake, both for orders and for the shop. I wanted to eat it ALL! I adapted my usual cheesecake recipe, and ended up with chocolate swirl cherry cheesecake! Almost like black forest cheesecake, but not.

Lunch break at work consisted of a green salad with cucumber, carrot and grape tomatoes and some raspberry vinaigrette. I also had a whole wheat wrap with feta hummus shmeared all over! Pretty darn tasty!

When I got home from that shift I totally PASSED OUT! Oh, 4 hour naps, you are my favorite!

Dinner was leftover curry from the other night but with peas and shrimp added in, still beyond amazing! We also had a big bowl of cantaloupe on the side. Melon is a delightfully refreshing way to end a meal!

Off to work again, night shift with the guys this time. I love our night shifts, they are so laid back, even though we get mad amounts of product made. Last night I confiscated control of the ipod, so it turned into a David Bowie rock out! Ooooh wa wa wa wa wa wa wa Gooolden Years!

Among all kinds of other guilt inducing items, I made more cupcakes, which means more SPRINKLES! All kinds of fun! The pics didn't turn out so hot, but here's a few anyway.

Cupcakes as far as the eye can see!

I'm feeling kinda dumb, because B just informed me that there is a macro setting on my little camera. DUH! Awesome. How did I not know about this?! Guess I won't be complaining about blurry close-ups any more!

We made a quick stop at Medicine Beach on the way home at 4 am. Very calm and cool out, the perfect after-work chill out. Ahhh. Then we went home. And I passed out again. I heart you, sleep!

Woke up this morning and tore into my stash from the health food store in Sidney. I grabbed the Hemp instant oatmeal, chia seeds, and cocao nibs.

This was probably the best bowl of oatmeal I've ever had! I might mix in a spoonful of nut butter next time, too.

I got caught up on my blog reading, as I didn't have time for that yesterday either, and now I'm just polishing off another Glo bar. These babies are good! I just had Heaven: coconut carob brownie bomb. A bit sweeter than the last one, but such a treat of a snack!

Amazing how you can read the label when I use the MACRO mode. (*eye roll*)

Now that my energy is back I'm off to do my workout. B is down the hill doing manly things with his tractor, so I'll have to go check out his progress there at some point too. Have a happy day all!

What is your go-to quick snack to regain some energy?