There may be way too little difference between Corona homeschooling days and vacation days, except that any semblance of structure goes out the window. There’s no longer any reason for the kids to go to bed any earlier than the second when they all collapse into a ginormous meltdown, mealtimes have been pushed back about two hours and I strongly suspect my boys have hacked the parental code for the Nintendo Switch time limit, because they’ve been vanishing for long periods of time and I have no idea what they’re up to…
Ah well, at least there’s no rush to get to school (In Berlin we had a few hours of school a week in small group classes) and no last minute, bad tempered scrambling to get homework done. We’ve completed the school year, we all did the best we could and I do believe there were a lot of positives for us in this experience. So I did what I love doing most: I baked Lemon Curd Tarts to celebrate the coming of our holidays! Delicate, melt-in-your-mouth, buttery shortbread cups filled with silky homemade lemon curd. You can defo substitute store bought lemon curd, ain’t nobody got time for everything.
I buried a couple at the very back of the fridge because I knew the whole family would scarf these down so quickly, I would regret not putting a few aside!
In about three days, you can probably find me hiding in the shower, muttering swearwords under my breath and brushing shortbread crumbs from my chin… But for now we’re good!
xoxo Donata
Ingredients Lemon Curd
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon light corn syrup (you can substitute 1 tbsp agave nectar)
About 3/4 cup (180 milliliters) freshly squeezed lemon juice (for 4 to 6 lemons)
1 stick (8 tablespoons; 4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
Instructions
1. Whisk the sugar, eggs, corn syrup and lemon juice together in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Drop in the pieces of butter.
2. Put the saucepan over medium heat and start whisking. You want to get into the corners of the pan, so if your whisk is too big for the job, switch to a wooden or silicone spatula. Cook, continuing to whisk — don’t stop — for 6 to 8 minutes, until the curd starts to thicken. When it is noticeably thickened and, most important, you see a bubble or two come to the surface, stop; the curd is ready.
3. Immediately scrape the curd into a heatproof bowl or canning jar or two. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and let the curd cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
Lemon curd will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for about 2 weeks and can be frozen for up to three months.
Ingredients Shortbread Cups
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (140 g) cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 -1/4 cups flour (180 g)
Pinch of salt
Baking spray or soft butter for greasing
Optional: raspberries, red currants or blueberries as garnish.
Needed:
12 cup mini muffin tin
Piping bag
Instructions
1. To make the shortbread, combine the sugars, salt and flour. Add the small pieces of butter and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mixture. Keep rubbing until it comes together, like wet sand.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 F (165 C). Spray the cups of a mini muffin tin with baking spray or grease with a paper towel and a generous amount of soft butter.
Spoon a tablespoon of the shortbread mixture into each of the mini muffin cups. Pat the shortbread down lightly with the rounded back of the tablespoon. Use a fork to prick a few holes into each shortbread cup.
3. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown and the top is pale golden, not brown. Remove from the oven and immediately press the back of the tablespoon into each shortbread cup to form a little hollow.
Let cool completely.
4. Slide a small paring knife around the edges of each shortbread cup and turn the tin over onto a kitchen towel. Lift out any stuck cups with the point of your knife.
5. Pour about a cup of the cold lemon curd into a piping bag. Snip the tip about 1/3 of an inch (1 cm) and fill the cooled shortbread cup to the brim with lemon curd. Top with red currants, raspberries or blueberries and serve.
Lemon Curd Recipe By Dorie Greenspan via New York Times Cooking.
Recipe here