Sweet
Lemon and mint curd
Silky, spoonable lemon curd with a whisper of fresh mint — the answer to a garden drowning in lemons and a fridge full of mint.
My testers are Ntombi and Happy — they don't grow up eating this kind of thing, so their honest 'mmm' is the only review I trust.
Method
- 01
Warm the lemon juice, zest and bruised mint leaves in a small pan until steaming (not boiling). Pull off the heat, cover, and let the mint steep for 10 minutes. Strain and discard the mint — you want the whisper of it, not the swamp of it.
- 02
Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water — the bowl must not touch the water. Add the strained lemon juice, sugar, butter and salt. Stir gently until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
- 03
Pour the strained beaten eggs into the warm (never hot) lemon mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. If it's too hot you'll scramble the eggs; if it's too cool it won't thicken. Warm, whisked, patient.
- 04
Now stir — don't whisk, stir — with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, scraping the bottom and sides, for 10–12 minutes. The curd is ready when it coats the back of the spoon and a finger drawn through the coating leaves a clean, defined trail. It will thicken more as it cools.
- 05
Push the hot curd through a fine sieve into a jug (this catches any strands of egg and gives you that glassy, professional finish). Pour into sterilised jars, press a disc of baking paper directly onto the surface, cool, then chill.
- 06
Once cold, stir in the tiny fresh mint leaves finely shredded — or leave plain and mint just the pie.
Keep cooking
