Elderflower and Lemon Curd

I am always looking for more ways to consume elderflower as it is full of goodness and is a free medicinal and nutritious resource.  Nature provides every thing we need, if we would only use it. I found a recipe that I had scribbled on a bit of paper a few years ago for elderflower and lemon curd, but  I don’t know where it is from.  I decided to reduce the butter in it, as I always try to cut the cost of recipes,  and I  thought that I would give it try it.  It was lovely.  Even Mr S who is not keen on the taste of elderflower loved it.  It has a lot of sugar in the recipe compared to my normal recipe for lemon curd though, and so the next time that I make it I am going to reduce the sugar a bit, though to be honest, it doesn’t taste too sweet.  I am just thinking about the calories!  This made just over a small jar and so might do a 1Ib or 500g jar.

Ingredients

200g sugar

2 unwaxed lemons (juice and zest)

50g unsalted butter

4 large elderflower heads

2 large eggs, beaten.

Method

1. In a medium pan put the sugar, lemon juice and zest and the butter cut up into small chunks,
2. Snip the elderflowers of their stalks and add.
3. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves, but do not boil or simmer.
4. Take the pan off the heat and leave the elderflower to steep for about 5 minutes.
5. Sieve the flowers out of the mixture by passing it through a sieve.  I pressed the flowers with the back of a spoon to get all the juice and goodness out.
6. Pour the mixture back into the pan and put over a medium heat.
7. Add the eggs and whisk continuously (you don’t want scrambled egg) until the mixture boils.
8. Keep whisking and boil for a minute and you will feel the mixture thickening.
9. Pour your curd into sterilized jars.  Place the lids on and leave to cool.  It will thicken even more as it starts to cool.
10. Store in a fridge for 2 to 3 weeks (if it lasts that long without being eaten).

I tried using the ‘Bain Marie’ method of cooking initially from step 6, but it was not thickening, and so I poured it back into the original pan, turned the heat up a bit, and it thickened within a couple of minutes.  I usually make lemon curd using a Bain Marie, but for some reason it works better cooking it all in the pan for this recipe. Enjoy x