How to make lemon curd?

This was meant to be a "How to make lemon curd" post that left me with some egg whites that I didn't have the heart to throw away. I usually keep the leftovers in the fridge for later use (which never happens anyway). However this time, the egg whites came to good use. The lemon curd, the crushed meringue and some whipped cream made a simple yet satisfying dessert. It's relatively easy to make and I have tried to be as detailed as I can but if there is anything that is not clear, let me know.

For those of you who are not familiar with lemon curd, it is like custard but less sweet with an intense flavour from lemons. It's also sometimes described as lemon-flavoured butter. Whichever way you look at it - it is delicious! The only downside is that they can't be refrigerated for too long (generally upto one week). Feel free to taste and adjust the amount of sugar in the lemon curd. Since I had the lemon curd with meringue, which is very sweet, I made mine very tangy.

(About 6 servings)
Lemon Curd:
3 large egg yolks
50 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
2 tbs caster sugar (for the lemon syrup)
1/3-2/3 cup caster sugar
3 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tbs lemon zest

Meringue:
3 large egg whites
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt or cream of tartar

To assemble:
2/3 cup whipping cream (I used 40 %)
4 tbs icing sugar/confectionar's sugar
1 tsp vanillin sugar/vanilla extract
Fresh fruits or berries (for garnish)

Method:
To cook the lemon curd you could use a double boiler or place a glass bowl with 1 inch of water on the stove. Make sure that the bowl on top does not touch the water underneath. I personally prefer not to cook the lemon curd in a double boiler or metal bowls because the lemon reacts with metals (resulting in a strange aftertaste). The best option is to use a heatproof glass bowl to cook the lemon curd in.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and place the egg yolks in a heat-proof glass bowl or double boiler. When you separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, make sure that there is no trace of egg yolks in the egg whites (that you need to make the meringue). Place the egg whites in a clean and dry bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed. Cut the butter into small sticks and let it come to room temperature. Mix the lemon juice with the sugar (needed for the lemon syrup) and the lemon zest. Whisk the egg yolks until smooth. While whisking the egg yolks, gradually add the lemon syrup into the egg mixture. Place the glass bowl with the mixture on top of the cooking pot with the water (that should be on a simmer). Keep stirring the mixture until it thickens at very low temperature (on simmer). The lemon curd is not suppose to boil and get bubbly. If the water underneath is too hot, the lemon curd can start curdling and that's why it is cooked over simmering water that shouldn't touch the bowl on top.

Once the lemon curd has thickened (or reached the consistency of hollandaise), taste and add some more sugar as preferred and then add the butter sticks and stir until the butter has completely melted. Take the bowl away from the stove. Strain the lemon curd to get rid of the lemon zest and any lumps that may have formed. Allow the lemon curd to cool to room temperature first, stir and then transfer the lemon curd into a clean and dry jar. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled. Generally, you can keep the lemon curd refrigerated for upto one week.

To make the meringue, take the egg whites out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 150 C (about 300 F). Please don't use a bowl that is too wide to whisk the egg whites. Start whisking the egg whites with a handmixer at low to medium speed until foamy and bubbly. At this stage you can add the salt or cream of tartar. Continue to whisk and then add the sugar gradually when the meringue is at the pre-soft peak stage to make sure the sugar gets fully dissolved and now you can start whisking at medium speed. Soft peaks mean peaks that curl downwards when you remove the whisk from the mixture. The peaks that appear at the soft peak stage are still soft and not firm (unlike stiff peaks that remain stiff and straight when you remove the whisk).

Once you have added the sugar you will notice that the mixture gets really glossy, white and dense as you whisk. You have to stop whisking from time to time to check what stage you are at. It is only when you remove the whisk from the meringue mixture, you will be able to see what kind of peaks are formed. Once you have reached the stiff peak stage, you can stop whisking. At this stage the peaks should be stiff and somewhat, if not completely, straight when you remove the whisk. You will also notice that, the meringue mixture is so firm that even if you turn the bowl upside down, the mixture wont move. Take some of the mixture and rub between your fingers and check if the sugar has been completely dissolved.

Line an oven sheet with parchment paper. It's also a good idea to take some of the mixture that is left on the whisk and place them on the underside of each corner of the parchment paper to prevent the paper from sliding. Carefully spoon 12 cookies (or so) out of the meringue using two tablespoons onto the parchment paper. Don't try to flatten the meringue as you do this. Handle it gently. The meringue can sometimes deflate in the oven, if not handled gently. Once the oven is hot, lower the temperature to 90-100 C (about 200-210 F) and place the meringue in the center rack of the oven and allow it to bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Halfway through, open the oven and rotate the oven sheet so that all of them are evenly baked. Turn off the oven and let the meringue rest in the oven for some 4-5 hours or so, or overnight. Store them at room temperature in a clean and dry container.

The lemon curd and the meringue is best done a day ahead or at least 4-5 hours ahead of serving because the lemon curd has to be chilled and the meringue has to rest once it has been baked. To assemble the dessert, whip the cream with confectionar's sugar and vanilla extract/vanillin sugar until stiff peaks, ahead before serving and keep it covered and refrigerated until needed. Assemble the dessert in 6 wine glasses, by first placing whipped cream at the bottom of the serving glass. Even out the layer of whipping cream around the edges, so that the lemon curd doesn't sink through the holes to the bottom. Spoon in a small layer of lemon curd over it. Crush the meringue cookies and spread on top of the lemon curd (this will turn out a little messy). Repeat the process until you have lemon curd on the topmost layer (I noticed that it was difficult to make the lemon curd "stay" there. I would probably skip this step next time). Alternatively, you could also place the cream in a piping bag and pipe it out on top and keep it as the topmost layer. Garnish with fruits and/or berries, I served mine with physalis/ground cherries. For more variation, you could also layer with some crumbled pound cake and/or fruits, you could layer pound cake between the cream and the lemon curd. Serve immediately and cold!

How to make tomato sauce?

I love Italian cuisine and their ingredients, especially the herbs, pasta, cheeses... well the list is endless.
Pizza is an all-time favourite in our family. Since pizza is also very convenient to refrigerate and heat in the micro when you feel hungry, I was preparing pizza over the weekend to bring to work next week.
Ever since starting this blog, I have started to show some interest in making certains basic dishes from scratch that I hadn't earlier. Tomato sauce was one such thing we used to buy from the stores when we made pizza. But I have since sometime back discovered how easy it is to make tomato sauce completely from scratch. It is not only easy, it's also healthier in that homemade tomato sauce does not contain any preservatives. You can use this tomato sauce for pizzas, pasta, and parmigiana. Ever since we discovered how easy it is to make tomato sauce at home, we have stopped buying ready-made sauces from the store and I'm sure you would too.

In addition to be below mentioned ingredients, some people also add sugar and others also add some chili powder to balance the taste. Since everyone's tastebuds are different, I would recommend you to taste and adjust spices. If you find the tomato sauce a little acidic, add some sugar to balance out the taste. If you want some heat, you could add some chili powder. I personally like herbs a lot, especially oregano, so I add a large quantity of it. You can certainly reduce the amount if you like.

Ingredients:
3-4 tomatoes
1/2 cup water
3 tsp tomato purée
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbs dried oregano
1/2 tbs dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients:
Sugar (if needed and as required)
Chili powder (if needed and as required)

Method:
Prepare the tomato sauce ahead of making the pizza dough. The sauce should not be warm when you spread it on the pizza. To make the sauce, begin by slicing/cutting the tomatoes finely. Finely chop the garlic. If you want a really smooth tomato sauce, you could mash the tomatoes with a handmixer or mix them in a mixer, with the garlic, before cooking them. In a large pan, cook the tomatoes, water and oil. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and cook on medium to below medium heat, until the sauce reaches your desired level of thickness. That's it.

Almond paste

In Sweden, almond paste is different from marzipan, because almond paste has a higher content of almonds than marzipan. Typically almond paste is made with egg white or milk. If you want the almond paste to last longer, you can replace the above mentioned ingredients with bourbon (and some drops of almond essence, if you want to downplay the smell of bourbon). These can be used in pastries, cakes, cinnamon rolls or relished with bread. You can also, after some refrigeration, add some food colouring to the almond paste and make various shapes associated with Christmas, for this Christmas. I am sending this as my entry to Back to Basics event conducted by Aqua, initiated by Jaya.

200 g blanched almonds
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup icing sugar
1 egg white or 2-3 tbs milk

Blanch the almonds. You can either bring some water to boil, add the almonds and boil for about 4-5 minutes and then blanch the almonds or let the almonds soak in warm water for a couple of minutes and then peel the skin off. Allow to dry in a towel and then slice the almonds. Slicing them before grinding makes it easier to get a fine paste. Grind them in a food processor. If you have a small grinder, grind in small batches. Grind the almonds as finely as you can. In a bowl, add the ground almonds and sugar and mix. Grind it again with the sugar. In a bowl, mix the almond mixture with the egg white or milk. Mix well into a firm paste and your almond paste is ready. Wrap up the almond paste tightly in a plastic sheet, like you would a sausage, and keep it in the fridge until needed.

Peanut butter

I felt like baking peanut cookies but since I don't have peanut butter at home, I decided to make my own. I was amazed at how easy it was! If you love peanut butter and want a healthier alternative without preservatives and make it taste like the way you want it, I would say, you have to give this a try.

2 cups roasted peanuts
2 tsp vegetable oil
A pinch of salt (if unsalted)
A pinch of sugar (if desired)

Start by roasting your peanuts, if they are not roasted. Take a wok pan and heat it, add peanuts and roast them for about 5 minutes at medium heat. You have to continuously turn and stir the peanuts so that they get evenly roasted. You can also roast the peanuts in the oven at 350 F (175 C) and you will have to turn them in the oven every one or two minutes. Do this for 5-8 minutes. Remove the shells. Allow them to cool for a while. Then grind them with peanut or vegetable oil. I used raps oil. Taste while grinding and add salt and/or sugar according to your preferences. I grinded them in small quantities to get a smooth texture and now my yummy peanut butter is ready!