Lemon Curd and Passionfruit Curd

Our answer

Lemon curd is relatively easy to make at home as it only requires lemons, eggs, sugar and butter. The lemon juice, zest, sugar and eggs are whisked together then the butter is beaten in as the mixture is warmed. Nigella has a recipe for lemon curd in How To Eat (p34) or the Lime Curd recipe in Domestic Goddess (p344) can be adapted by using lemons insetad of limes. Unfortunately home-made curds do not have the longevity of the shop-bought variety and we suggest that once made they are kept in the fridge and used within one week.

If using passionfruit nectar we would suggest that you first check that it is unsweetened as if it is a nectar it could possibly contain sugar and even added water, which would make it unsuitable for making the curd with. However if it is pure passionfruit pulp then it should be suitable. For the main (cooked) part of the recipe you need 10 tablespoons (150ml or just under 2/3 cup) of seedless pulp. In our experience most of the passionfruit pulps sold are seedless but if your frozen pulp contains seeds then you need to start with 300mls or 1 1/4 cups of pulp and strain this to remove the seeds. At the end the pulp of one whole passionfruit is stirred in and if possible do try and use a fresh passionfruit as the seeds can be quite attractive but if you can only get the pulp then use 2 tablespoons.