When life gives you lemons...

Okay - this recipe will be in an upcoming cookbook, and as long as you ALL promise to BUY IT, I will give you this one recipe. For more sneak peek recipes, check out Flour Bakery + Cafe's website!

This is the best lemon curd in the world. Seriously. If you like crazy-tart curd that really tastes like lemons, this is for you. I make this with Meyer lemons, but normal ones work perfectly well.

Joanne Chang's Most Amazing Lemon Curd
2 cups + 2 tablespoons (17.75 ounces) lemon juice
¼ pound unsalted butter
¼ cup (2 ounces) heavy cream
2 cups (14 ounces) sugar
8 eggs
4 egg yolks
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan, heat together lemon juice, butter, and cream until just under a boil.

2. Whisk together sugar, eggs and egg yolks in a medium bowl until combined.

3. Remove liquid from the heat and gradually whisk in a little bit of the hot liquid into the sugar/egg mix. Continue whisking in a little more hot liquid into the eggs until all of it is added. This is called tempering and it allows the eggs to slowly and gently be brought up to the same temperature as the hot liquid.

4. Return the mixture to the saucepan and place it over medium heat.

5. Stir mixture continuously with a wooden spoon, making sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan to prevent the eggs from scrambling at the bottom. Cook mixture until it thickens and coats the spoon with a thick enough layer of curd that you can draw your finger through it and it holds a line. This will take about 5-8 minutes, depending on the heat of your stove.

6. Remove from heat and strain the curd through a fine sieve into a storage container. Cover and refrigerate until cool, several hours or overnight.