Lemon Meyer curd recipe

Our lemon Meyer tree is full of fruits this year and it is time to harvest them. They are not storing very well, even in a refrigerator so I am trying to find the ways to preserve and enjoy them year-round. I made some delicious marmalade yesterday (will share the recipe later) but today I'd like to share the lemon curd recipe.

Lemon curd is delicious and is great on toast, scones or cake. It can not be stored for very long since it has the eggs in it so plan to use it within a week. It does not have any preservatives so it should be kept refrigerated all the time. My friends love it, so I don't have any problems with homemade gifts from my kitchen :)

This recipe was published originally in Good Housekeeping so I tried it once and have been making it ever since. I tried to use stevia instead of sugar for a healthier treat but I do not like the result so I am going to stick with sugar in this one. You will get approximately 2 cups of lemon curd from this recipe.

Here is how to make this:

The ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

6 table spoon butter

1 table spoon lemon Meyer peel, grated

2/3 cup lemon Meyer juice.

pinch of salt

You will also need a stainless steel 4-qt. saucepan, blender, whisk and 2 pretty jars.

Combine all ingredients but butter in a blender and blend just until smooth. Cook it on medium low setting for approximately 15 minutes. Do not boil. Add butter after about first 5 minutes of cooking.

Stir with your whisk all the time while cooking.

Transfer to a prepared clean jars. Let it cool, cover and refrigerate to chill. Enjoy!

Hazelnut rugelach

We did not bake much this holiday season, just a couple of my favorite treats. One of them is hazelnut rugelach. This recipe seems to be complicated but it's really not and it's also a very delicious. 

I got this from Good Housekeeping magazine several years ago and I have baked rugelach every winter ever since.

I used some dried plums and cherries for my recipe and switch hazelnuts for pecans and it tasted as good as the original one.

 

For the complete recipe go to Good Housekeeping or follow the instructions below:

Rugelach Dough

2 cup(s) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

1 cup(s) (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

1 package(s) (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

Fruit and Nut Filling

1 cup(s) hazelnuts, (filberts), toasted, skinned, and chopped

1/2 cup(s) dried pitted plums, (prunes), chopped

1/2 cup(s) dried tart cherries or cranberries, chopped

1/4 cup(s) (packed) light brown sugar

Spice Sugar

3/4 cup(s) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon(s) ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon(s) ground cloves

9 tablespoon(s) apricot jam

Directions

Prepare Rugelach Dough: On waxed paper, combine flour and salt. In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and cram cheese until creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in flour mixture just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces; flatten each into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic warp and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until dough is firm enough to roll. (Or place dough in freezer for 1 hour if using butter, 1 1/2 hours if using margarine.)

Meanwhile, prepare Fruit and Nut Filling: In medium bowl, combine all filling ingredients.

Prepare Spice Sugar: In small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line large cookie sheet with foil; grease foil.

Sprinkle work surface with 2 tablespoons spice sugar. Place 1 piece dough on top of sugar; turn over to coat both sides. Roll dough into 12-inch round, turning round over a few times and sprinkling work surface with 2 more tablespoons spice sugar to coat both sides.

Spread top of round with 3 tablespoons jam, then sprinkle with about 3/4 cup filling, leaving 1/2-inch border around edge. With knife, cut dough into 24 equal wedges. Starting at curved edge, roll up each wedge, jelly-roll fashion. Place rugelach, 1 inch apart, on cookie sheet, point side down.

Bake rugelach 20 to 25 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Immediately remove rugelach to wire rack to cool.

Repeat with remaining dough, spice sugar, jam, and filling.

Enjoy!