The macaron madness continues. The two items on the menu - lemon curd and strawberry curd. Curds are great to go with macarons as the tart fruit cuts the sugary macaron biscuits but also because they use up the left over egg yolk. The basic macaron biscuit stayed pretty much the same. For the lemon curd I used vanilla flavoured macarons and for the strawberry curd I added a smidge of red colour dye and powdered dried strawberries. The dried strawberries are made from fresh strawberries cut into slices and dried in the oven at 200oF. Once dried simply put mortar and pestle to it and ground it to a powder.
I like my curds sour so if you prefer something sweeter the sugar content may have to be increased. But remember this is going to be sandwiched between two macaron biscuits which are quite sweet already.
Lemon Curd
1 egg yolk
3 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp corn starch
Lemon juice from 1 lemon
Lemon zest from 1 lemon
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
pinch of salt
Strawberry Curd
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp corn starch
4 strawberries pureed
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
pinch of salt
For both recipes melt cornstarch and sugar in a pan with water. The mixture should become transparent then thicken and turn translucent white. At this stage add the lemon juice and zest or the strawberry puree. If the mixture is very runny which may be the case for the lemon curd then cook a little bit longer till it thickens again. Remove pan from stove and mix in the yolk. Make sure the yolk is at room temperature and mix in quickly to prevent the egg from coagulating.
Allow the curds to cool. I usually refrigerate it overnight while the egg white is been dried for making the macarons the next day. Once your macaron biscuits are made assemble with a small teaspoon of the curd and voila macarons are done.
Labels: Cook, Curd, Dessert, Eat, Lemon, Macaron, Strawberry
