Meyer Lemon Curd Canning Recipes

MEYER LEMON CURD

Steps:

• Prepare and ice-water bath. Set a medium bowl in ice-water bath and set aside.
• Place sugar and lemon zest in a mortar and grind with a pestle to combine and release the oils. Transfer sugar mixture to a medium heatproof bowl along with eggs and egg yolks; whisk to combine. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until sugar has dissolved. Add lemon juice and continue whisking until mixture is thick and reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add butter and whisk until well combined.
• Strain lemon mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over prepared bowl. Cover lemon curd with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface. Transfer to refrigerator until completely chilled.

LEMON CURD FOR CANNING

Steps:

• Wash 4 half-pint canning jars with warm, soapy water. Rinse well; keep hot until ready to fill. Prepare canning lids according to manufacturer's directions.
• Fill boiling water canner with enough water to cover the filled jars by 1 to 2 inches. Use a thermometer to preheat the water to 180°F by the time filled jars are ready to be added.
• Caution: Do not heat the water in the canner to more than 180°F before jars are added. If the water in the canner is too hot when jars are added, the process time will not be long enough. The time it takes for the canner to reach boiling after the jars are added is expected to be 25 to 30 minutes for this product. Process time starts after the water in the canner comes to a full boil over the tops of the jars.
• Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl, stir to mix, and set aside about 30 minutes. Pre-measure the lemon juice and prepare the chilled butter pieces.
• Heat water in the bottom pan of the double boiler until it boils gently. The water should not boil vigorously or touch the bottom of the top double boiler pan or bowl in which the curd is to be cooked. Steam produced will be sufficient for the cooking process to occur.
• In the top of the double boiler, on the counter top or table, whisk the egg yolks and whole eggs together until thoroughly mixed. Slowly whisk in the sugar and zest, blending until well mixed and smooth. Blend in the lemon juice and then add the butter pieces to the mixture.
• Place the top of the double boiler over boiling water in the bottom pan. Stir gently but continuously with a silicone spatula or cooking spoon, to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a temperature of 170°F Use a food thermometer to monitor the temperature.
• Remove the double boiler pan from the stove and place on a protected surface, such as a dish cloth or towel on the counter top. Continue to stir gently until the curd thickens (about 5 minutes). Strain curd through a mesh strainer into a glass or stainless steel bowl; discard collected zest.
• Fill hot strained curd into the clean, hot half-pint jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids.
• Process in the prepared boiling water canner using only halfpint or smaller jars,.
• Process 15 minutes (elevation 0-1,000 feet), 20 minutes (1,000-6,000 feet), 25 minutes (above 6,000 feet).
• See http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/lemon_curd.html.
• Note: ** Bottled lemon juice is used to standardize acidity. Fresh lemon juice can vary in acidity and is not recommended.

MEYER LEMON CURD

Steps:

• Beat sugar and butter together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and yolks one at a time until incorporated. Mix in lemon juice. Transfer mixture to a saucepan.
• Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring gently until smooth. Increase the heat to medium and simmer gently, stirring constantly, until curd is thick enough to coat a spoon and reaches 170 degrees F (77 degrees C) on a candy thermometer, 15 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest.
• Transfer curd to a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin forming as it cools. Allow to cool briefly, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill until thick.

MEYER LEMON CURD

Steps:

• 1. Zest all of the lemons! You only need 1/2 tsp for recipe, but the zest is so good, you should keep it. One idea is to mix it with a jar of sugar to add to a glass of sweet tea.
• 2. Juice all lemons - this should give you around 2/3 cups lemon juice. Make sure to remove the seeds.
• 3. In a double boiler, add about an inch or so of water to the bottom, and set on a medium-heat burner. In the top of the boiler, whisk together the cup of sugar and egg yolks until smooth. Then mix in the lemon juice and zest.
• 4. When completely smooth, place top of boiler onto bottom and stir constantly about ten minutes. (I use a rubber spatula.) When curd is thicker, begin adding chuncks of butter until melted. Once all of the butter has been melted into curd, remove from heat and pour into your sterilized jars.
• 5. Cover tightly with lids. When jars have cooled, I suggest that you place them in the refrigerator. Lemon curd will last about a month or so, not terribly long. I doubt it will stay in your refrigerator that long - it's too delicious!

MEYER LEMON CURD

Steps:

• Finely grate enough zest from lemons to measure 2 teaspoons and squeeze enough juice to measure 1/2 cup. Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs in a metal bowl and add butter. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, whisking, until thickened and smooth and an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F, about 5 minutes. Force curd through a fine sieve set into another bowl. Serve warm or cover surface of curd with wax paper and cool completely.