Lemon Curd Awards

Spring is now in full swing and everyone seems to be celebrating this bright season with a variety of yummy citrus-based recipes. The most popular citrus flavour floating about the baking community seems to be lemon – Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes, Lemon Pull-Apart Cake, Lemon Cookie Cheesecake Bars, Lemon Sugar Cookies, Lemon Meringue Pies... It’s pretty hard to miss!

Most of the lemon recipes call for lemon curd. Up until writing this blog post, I had only tried lemon curd once last year and completely fell in love with it. I remember standing at the kitchen countertops with the jar and a spoon, completely omitting the toast. Who needs toast when it tastes so great on its own? (I feel the same way about Nutella – ditch the toaster and grab a spoon!)

There is always a divide when it comes to lemon curd – egg-free or egg-full? Egg-free is always chosen as the safer option because there are no raw eggs in the recipe, but the traditional egg-full method is still going strong today. Which do you prefer?

To help you decide, I present to you The Lemon Curd Awards!

(Recipes for both variations can be found at the bottom of the post)

Texture

The egg-full version is really thick, fluffy and creamy – almost like smooth peanut butter frosting, whereas the egg-free curd is more like a thick glaze or syrup.

And the winner is: Egg-Full

Appearance

The main difference I noticed about these two curds is the colour. The egg-full one is orange, almost peanut butter-coloured – this is due to the egg yolks in the recipe. The egg-free curd is a bright yellow colour and looks much more like lemon curd.

And the winner is: Egg-Less

Storage Ability

After a couple of days in sealed jars stored in the fridge, the egg-full curd had thickened to a great spreading consistency, whereas the egg-free version has separated (there was a sugary water solution settled on the top).

And the winner is: Egg-Full

Ease of Making

The egg-less version of the curd calls for less ingredients and the whisking process was fairly easy and pain-free. The egg-full curd calls for more ingredients, more steps, more time and made my arm really ache with all the whisking.

And the winner is: Egg-Less

Taste

So far it’s 2-2 – this is the tie breaker! 

I preferred the taste of the egg-free lemon curd. It was so much more citrus-y and zingy than the other, which was a little two buttery for me.

And the winner is: Egg-Less

The overall winner – Egg-Less Lemon Curd!

Cue roars of cheer and applause.

[However, I do have to point out that my Official Treat Taster put his foot down and completely disagreed with me. He preferred the buttery, almost pie-like, taste of the egg-full lemon curd.]

Recipes

Egg-Free Lemon Curd

Recipe from Shaken Together

Ingredients

½ cup sugar

¼ cup water

3 tablespoons cornstarch

¼ cup lemon juice (about 1 ½ lemons’ worth)

2 teaspoons lemon zest

Recipe

1. In a saucepan on a medium heat, mix together the sugar, water and cornstarch. Slowly bring to a boil, whisking constantly.

2. When the mixture boils, reduce the heat and keep on stirring until the mixture gets really thick.

3. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and zest. At this point my curd thinned out, so I put it back on the heat and carried on whisking until it was thick again.

4. Allow to cool to room temperature then store in the fridge in a sealed jar or container.

Egg-Full Lemon Curd

Recipe from Food Network

Ingredients

5 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

4 lemons, zested and juiced

1 stick of butter, cut into cubes

Recipe

1. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a metal bowl then add the lemon juice and zest. Beat together until smooth.

2. Place the bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture is really thick – this should take about 10 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter 1 cube at a time, allowing each to melt before adding the next.

4. Leave to cool to room temperature then store in a sealed container or jar in the fridge.

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