If you have made a large batch of lemon curd or someone has gifted you a large jar full of this delicious topping, you must be wondering how to use it well. Of course, you could devour it by spooning it up, but that would be a waste of such a wonderful ingredient.
This post talks about some creative ways you can use lemon curd. Would you like to know what they are? Keep reading!
1. No Bake Lemon Tart:
This is an easy way to use lemon curd, and it also makes an elegant dessert. To make your work much easier and less time consuming, use store-bought pie crust. Roll it into a large disc of 1 cm thickness. Carefully lay this on the tart tin and with your fingers, wedge in the dough until it sticks uniformly to the tin. If there is a rip anywhere, use excess dough to patch the gaps. Now fill the shell with lemon curd. Bake at 160 degrees C for 15-20 minutes until the curd is set. The egg in the curd helps it set the curd. Alternatively, you could also make mini tartlets by baking in muffin tins.
2. Macarons:
Macarons are sophisticated desserts that you can make for your tea time party or just for your own sweet tooth. To make the macaron, whip up egg whites in a clean bowl with very fine caster sugar (add 1 tablespoon per egg) until stiff peaks form. During the last stage of whipping, add a bit of gel color. Now pipe them on to a baking sheet with a round tip nozzle in small 1-inch diameter circles. Tap your tray twice to give your macarons the characteristic ‘feet’. Bake these at 180 degrees C for 8 minutes. Take them out and let them cool. Sandwich two of these macaron halves with a dollop of lemon curd.
3. Cake Icing:
To make cake icing out of lemon curd, you must choose a particularly tart lemon curd because you need to add sugar to make it stiff enough to be used as icing. First of all, you need to make a basic buttercream by creaming unsalted butter with icing sugar. Roughly equal parts butter and sugar are needed, but if it is too stiff, add a couple of tablespoons of milk. If it is too runny, add more sugar. Once the buttercream is done, add the lemon curd according to taste.
4. Pudding:
To make the pudding batter, mix 5 tablespoons of butter, ¼ cup of caster sugar, ½ cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 large egg. Once the batter comes together, add juice of half a lemon and zest of a whole lemon and give it a quick stir. In greased pudding cups, add a tablespoon of lemon curd and fill the rest with the pudding batter. Bake at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes. Unmold the pudding once cool and scrape the lemon curd onto it. You can serve with an extra spoonful of lemon curd.
5. Crepe Filling:
6. Lemon Bar:
Silky smooth, elegant and satisfying, a lemon bar is all these things. It can be packed into lunch boxes, served at a party or even given away as a gift. To make this versatile sweet snack, make a shortbread base by whizzing 5 tablespoons of cubed, cold butter, 2 tablespoons of caster sugar, ¾ cup flour in a food processor until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Collect the loose dough into a ball without kneading too much. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. After that, pat the dough into a square tin and bake for 30 minutes at 175 degrees C. Once the crust is cooled, spread the lemon curd in a uniform layer and refrigerate for a few hours. Cut it into small squares and serve.
To make lemon mousse, heat whipping cream on the stovetop with lemon zest. Once the cream is slightly cooled, add a soaked and squeezed sheet of gelatin to the cream and stir until it dissolves. Now let the cream cool completely before whipping to a soft peak with two tablespoons of icing sugar. Add the lemon curd and fold in with a metal spoon. Refrigerate to get a smooth, soft mousse.
8. Marbled Cake:
Marbled cake contains two different kinds of flavored cake batter folded in a marbled pattern. To make marble cake, prepare simple cake batter for a 6-inch round tin. You can use packaged cake batter. Now using two different spoons, put dollops of cake batter and lemon curd alternatively into the cake tin in two layers. Using a toothpick, swirl the batter in a beautiful marbled pattern. Bake as the recipe instructs.
9. Puff Pastry Bites:
You can buy ready-made puff pastry from the store. Cut the pastry into small squares or circles. Bake them as instructed in the package. Now whip some lemon curd with whipped cream to make a creamy, thick filling. Pipe this on the puff pastry with a star-tip nozzle. Top it with candied lemon or berries to make the perfect party food.
10. Pavlova:
o make pavlova, prepare the egg whites the same way you prepared for macarons. However, to make the pavlova extra marshmallow and gooey at the center, add a tablespoon of cornflour to the mixture. Now pile it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper in a large round shape. Smooth the surface as much as you can. Bake it at 150 degrees C for an hour. Once the pavlova is cool, generously spoon lemon curd on the top of it. Arrange sweet raspberries and strawberries on top to finish the dessert.
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