Dreamy Lemon Curd, & June’s Cookbook Club Roundup
Friends, hello! I hope this post finds you well! It’s the very last Wednesday of the month and that can only mean one thing: a cookbook club roundup! We spent the month of June deep-diving into three wonderful cookbooks: A Bird in the Hand, Modern Art Desserts, and Sweeter Off the Vine. If you missed the initial June Cookbook Club post, you can check it out here for all the links and info on the books! Below, I’ve rounded up a heap of links to every single recipe I made from the chosen books, and there are truly some gems in there. Underneath the roundup, I’ve also included my very favourite recipe of the month: Dreamy Lemon Curd. It was so hard to choose a favourite recipe this month, but being able to make an excellent lemon curd is a skill I find nearly essential.
I hope you find a recipe to make over the coming weeks, and the inspiration to see it through.
Enjoy!
June’s Cookbook Club Roundup
A Bird in the Hand
I always knew this book had potential to become one of my faves, and now it has! Recipes that require little to no effort to make an outstanding dinner always get my vote, and this book is filled with just that. I’m an especially big fan of recipes that you chuck in a marinade first thing and cook off later – they’re lifesavers! A must-have for quick and easy chicken dinners!
Mustard Chicken, Black Beans, and Avocado Salsa // great marinade for the chicken, perfectly hot and spicy. We especially loved the tomato & avocado salsa, which we remade throughout the month.
Lemon & Pistachio Chicken // I veered slightly off course for this recipe, but it was still a success. I used the recipe for the filling, stuffed the chicken, breadcrumbed it, and baked it in the oven – so delicious! Like a chicken Kiev, except more exotic!
Vietnamese Caramelized Ginger Chicken // delicious! Spicy, saucy, and zingy! Probably our favourite recipe from the book! Again, such a timesaver recipe – marinade in the morning, barely do anything at dinnertime!
Buttermilk Chicken with Chipotle Slaw // buttermilk chicken is never not good, and the coleslaw from the Pitt Cue guys was perfect. We enjoyed the leftover coleslaw in sandwiches and will definitely be making it again!
Chicken Piri Piri // yum! I must be the only person in the world who hasn’t had piri piri chicken before – but I’m a convert! Spicy, delicate, smoky – delicious!
Modern Art Desserts
I loved doing a deep dive into this cookbook! Honestly, I have no idea why I was so intimidated by it for so long. Every single recipe I made was a hit, and as we got nearer the end of the month I started panicking that I wouldn’t get to make everything I had ear-marked. I’m so glad I finally got stuck in!
Kahlo Mexican Wedding Cookies // delicious little pecan shortbread balls! Very simple to make, and so buttery!
Kelly Fudge Pops // I don’t have ice pop molds, but I made these in small semi-circle molds. Everyone loved them! Very easy to make, too!
Laskey Lemon Soda // refreshingly zingy lemon concentrate to add to sparkling water. It got me through some of the super hot evenings last week!
Thiebaud Chocolate Cake // possibly the most delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever made – and I make a lot of delicious chocolate cakes. Layers of moist chocolate cake, the lightest Italian meringue buttercream, and little puddles of coffee-chocolate ganache in the middle. So! Good!
Thiebaud Pink Cake // I had leftover buttercream from the above cake and decided to make this pink version too! A delicate vanilla cake, layered with strawberry tinged buttercream and the dreamiest lemon curd. A firm favourite with everyone who tried it – and we went delivering this baby around to all of our loved ones!
Mondrian Cake // I simply couldn’t not make this cake – but I couldn’t find the recipe online. Ultimately: it’s this white velvet cake baked in a loaf tin 4 times (one normal, blue, yellow, red), sliced into different sized strips, and glued together with chocolate ganache. It is for sure a labour of love, but cutting into it & revealing the pattern was beyond! satisfying! Perhaps the coolest cake I’ve ever made!
Sweeter Off the Vine
I feel guilty that I didn’t get into this book as much as the other two, but previously this has definitely been my most used. I’m a huge Yossy fan and her recipes have never ever let me down, they are reliably great every time!
Pistachio Pound Cake with Strawberries // dense & nutty pound cake, especially great soaked with the strawberry juices and dolloped with whipped cream.
There we have it: June’s Cookbook Club roundup! I feel like every single day I was pulling a fancy cake out of my oven – and I’m not mad about it! I really hope you find a recipe or two that tickles your fancy, there were truly so many goodies this month!
Now, on to my FAVOURITE recipe this month: Dreamy Lemon Curd!
Dreamy Lemon Curd
A good homemade lemon curd is truly such a wonder – and this Dreamy Lemon Curd from Caitlin Freeman is the finest I’ve come across. Here are the details:
• most curds are made by melting everything but the eggs together over the hob, and then beating in the eggs at the end. This has practically never worked for me, and usually means I end up with bits of cooked egg in my curd. No more! In this recipe, the eggs are beaten in with all the other ingredients at the beginning and gently cooked until thickened – a dream!
• this Dreamy Lemon Curd also uses a different way of incorporating the butter. Normally, the butter is melted into the curd from the beginning. For this curd, the butter is added after the other ingredients have thickened and come up to temperature. When the room temperature butter meets the hot curd, they meld together into a silky smooth mass. Honestly, it’s perfection.
• to ensure a silky smooth curd every time, we need to sieve this twice. Once, straight off the hob, and once more after the butter has been incorporated. Luscious!
• this recipe uses a digital thermometer to test for doneness, but don’t fret! If you don’t have one, you can test for doneness by dipping a spoon into the curd. If the curd coats the back of the spoon fully and your finger leaves a trail behind, it’s done!
• this curd is layered inside the Thiebaud Pink Cake above. If that ain’t your thing, this could be used in so may other ways: Lemon Meringue Pie! Lemon Curd Tartlets! Scones with lemon curd! Biscuit filling! The list is endless.
I just know you’re going to love it!
Happy curd-ing! xo
5 from 1 vote
Dreamy Lemon Curd
The dreamiest lemon curd out there – silky smooth, zesty, lusciously addictive!
P R E P15 minutes mins
C O O K15 minutes mins
T O T A L4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Yield: 450 g
Author: Passionate Baker
INGREDIENTS
6 large egg yolks (114g)
200 g caster sugar
120 g freshly squeezed lemon juice
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
113 g salted butter cut into cubes, at room temperature
DIRECTIONS
Prepare your station. On the stove, have a pot of water simmering. Nearby, have an empty clean bowl set up with a fine-mesh sieve over the top; set aside.
In a different medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the caster sugar and egg yolks – being sure not to leave them sitting together for too long before beating. When thoroughly combined, whisk in the lemon juice + zest and set over the prepared pot, ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Whisking occasionally, leave the curd to cook until the temperature registers 82°C on a digital thermometer, or it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15-20 minutes.
Strain the curd into the sieve set over the clean bowl.
Begin to add the butter into the curd, a few cubes at a time. Use a rubber spatula to stir everything together – the heat from the curd should easily incorporate the room temperature butter.
Sieve the curd again, this time into a storage container. Press cling film directly onto the surface of the curd to prohibit a skin forming. Refrigerate until set before using, about 3-4 hours.
NOTES
recipe lightly adapted from Caitlin Freeman
the recipe doubles wonderfully!
curd will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days, but can be frozen for 3-months – simply thaw in the fridge overnight before use.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to know! Please leave a comment & a rating below, or tag me on Instagram @imvcki. Thank you so much for supporting Passionate Baker!
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