Lemon curd … oh how I love thee … for the tartness and the speed and ease of making thee …
What … making lemon curd is easy? I know I am often writing about my recipes being easy, but this one is and it tastes like it took you hours to make.
My Aunt Mary found this gem of a recipe tucked inside one of my grandmother’s recipe books. It was actually written by Gram-gram’s dear friend Maureen O’Sullivan who was from Ireland. Which means this recipe is close to seventy years old. I am incredibly happy Aunt Mary found this ‘lost’ recipe … when Mom passed away I searched through all of her cookbooks to find ‘her’ curd for lemon meringue pies and tarts. All of them I found were either too watery, bland or not even the right color yellow. I tried this recipe as a fluke, I am pretty sure that this was my mother’s curd she used in her pies and tarts, and it is now my go-to for this pie.
This is a pie I make when I have no time, but want to make an impression. I buy a frozen pie crust if I am pressed for time — that’s why I didn’t include crust ingredients and recipe for a crust. You can also use four dozen mini-phyllo cups and fill them with the curd and top with a berry — this is actually faster to make and a fun dessert for the buffet. You can find the phyllo cups inside the freezer section at most markets. I used raspberries for this post because most markets carry them, but any berry will do… sometimes I add sliced peaches or nectarines. If you do sprinkle the top with powdered sugar make sure you do it right before serving, because the berries will sweat and the sugar will disappear.
Maureen O'Sullivan's Lemon Curd and Berry Pie
Ingredients
- 1 8-inch pie crust
- 6 eggs -- beaten
- 6 lemons -- juiced
- 1 cup of butter
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 2 packages of fresh raspberries or berries of your choice
Directions
- Step 1 Cook pie crust to maker’s instructions.
- Step 2 Let cool.
- Step 3 Melt butter in sauce pan over low heat.
- Step 4 After butter is melted add all the other ingrediets and stir continuously, until the mixture thickens — about five minutes.
- Step 5 Pour curd into pie shell.
- Step 6 Top with berries.
- Step 7 Serve chilled.
