Rosemary & Lavender Lemon Curd “Tassies”
Makes about 2 cups.
Ingredients:
½ cup fresh lemon juice
Zest of 2 medium lemons
3 large eggs
¾ cup organic cane sugar
Pinch of salt
4 4-inch stems of fresh rosemary
A teaspoon of dried lavender buds
5 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Put butter in a small saucepan on low heat. Once the butter is melted, add your rosemary and lavender. Let it infuse on the lowest setting for an hour. Strain herbs from butter. Set butter aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, zest, and salt until frothy and light.
Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Stir constantly, until the curd thickens, about 5-7 minutes or so. When you can run your spoon through, and it leaves a clear path without running back together in the pan, remove it from the heat.
Press the cooked curd through a strainer to filter out any cooked zest pieces and/or tiny lumps.
Then turn the heat to low and stir in the butter. Cook and stir until the butter is melted and fully incorporated.
When the curd is cooked, allow it to cool on the counter to room temperature before refrigerating overnight, or for at least 4 hours. This will allow the curd to fully thicken to its proper consistency.
Once cool, spoon into small pre-baked mini-tarts and adorn with blossoms of rosemary and lavender.
Notes:
Then this mixture is put in a saucepan on low to medium heat to thicken and cook. Slowly stirring, watch for when the consistency of the curd becomes thick enough that it holds its shape and doesn’t run back together with you a put a spoon through. Once ready, your infused butter is added and gently stirred until melted. In a few minutes, a beautiful creamy curd appears.
This is cooled for a few hours so that the curd takes on a thicker, even creamier consistency, and is then spooned into prebaked golden tarts. I used store-bought mini-tarts because I wanted their perfect sun-like appearance, but of course, you can use homemade pastry or even a shell of buttered nuts and seeds
From Gather Victoria:
*Long associated with the sun, butter has long been served at Brigid’s Feast. Legend tells that when Brigid was sent to help the dairymaids churn butter, she prayed for abundance, and the butter doubled. This she took and fed to the poor. Today, people still leave out butter as a special gift to Brigit for Imbolc so that she will bless them with prosperity and abundance.
Eggs (with their golden round orbs) have long been symbols of fertility and new life, and the lemon’s bright, fresh yellow is the color of spring. Add to this the purifying and protective powers of rosemary and lavender, herbs both sacred to the sun, and you’ve got some sweet treats I’m sure will please her taste buds and help spread her sweet warmth over the wintry land.
And that’s why these Lemon Curd Tassies are the perfect offering. Buttery rich, lemony fresh, and suffused with the aromatic herbaceous notes of rosemary and lavender, they’re brimming with the magic of the sun. A perfect addition for any Imbolc celebration right?*
Recipe courtesy of Gather Victoria.com
Recipe Collections: Delicious Desserts