Saturday 12 June 2010

Lemon butter

This Queen's Birthday long weekend, I've been making jars and jars of lemon butter, lime butter and passionfruit butter (or curd) for my sons' school fete which is next Sunday. My inner-Martha is coming out in full force.

One of the teachers at the boys' school has a lime tree and donated the fruit for making preserves. She doesn't normally know what to do with the limes.

Clearly, she has never heard of Tanqueray...If I had a lime tree, I think Jason and I would be perpetually drunk. 

Fortunately, I was given the limes and know how to make a great citrus butter (and a wicked G&T as well).



Lemon butter in just some of the Maille jars .

In the process of making all of the curds, I've realised my parents have an addiction to Maille cocktail sauces and mustard. They gave me over 20 empty jars. Their year's worth of jars works out to be far in excess of what one should consume, especially for an elderly couple!!
 
If you too have an excess of citrus and jars, here is a fool-proof lemon butter recipe:
 
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
180 ml lemon juice
2 tblsp of lemon zest
125 g butter
 
Whisk eggs and sugar until combined in a large pot. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Place over a slow to medium heat and stir continuously until it becomes thick. Once it coats the back of your spoon, switch off the heat. Poor hot curd into sterilised jars and seal well with sterilised jar lids. ( I wash my jars in a dishwasher but also sterlise in a slow oven for 20 minutes, the lids are boiled in water for five minutes).
 
This should fill at least four or five smallish Maille jars.

17 comments:

  1. You have done an amazing job -they look so professional. G&T with limes are our favourite drink. Still have some limes left but no Gin! Homemade lemon butter YUMMO. Love what you have done.
    Pam

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  2. Wow! Aren't you just the domestic goddess! I love lemon butter and have lemon and limes trees! Thank you for sharing your recipe, I will now have to give it a go. Yum!

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  3. This sounds amazing! I've never heard of lemon butter before.

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  4. Oh lemon butter reminds me of my darling Gran who died when I was 16. Her lemon butter was the best. I can't see a jar without thinking of her. You clever thing.... a domestic goddess I am not! A-M xx

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  5. Oh very impressive. 67 blogger points to you. If I were at that fete I'd buy several of those tempting jars and have lime curd on parmesan crackers with my g&t. Your labels are lovely.

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  6. yum yum and double yum :) they look divine - well done you best le

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  7. Jane (aka the gilr in the brick house)12 June 2010 at 21:05

    I'm veryimpressed! Love lemon butter but would have never thought to make it!

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  8. wow, great job. I had never heard of lemon butter, now I want to try it, thanks for the recipe!

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  9. Oh wow bet they smell divine too!

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  10. soooo....forgive my ignorance, but what do you do with lemon butter? i love lemon, it sounds amazing but where does it go?
    and it looks beautiful. bravo!

    ~laura x

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  11. Yes, what do you do with it? I'm sitting on a hundred lemons and would like to know.

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  12. Thanks everyone for the lovely comments. So, what to do with Lemon Butter? It is essentially a jam or spread. I like to spread it liberally on toast for breakfast, it makes a great filling in small tart shells, lovely on pikelets, english muffins or scones for afternoon tea. Some people use it to fill a sponge cake instead of strawberry jam. Try it and I guarantee you'll find a use for it!xx

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  13. Yes reminds me of my grandmother too. Perfect between two sponge cakes I think. We have a very fertile lime tree at home. Quite strange as apparently they are hard to grow. Time for some baking today I think xoxo

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  14. I admit I cannot buy lemon butter for if I have it in the house I have been known to eat it straight from the jar with a spoon.....yum! Your recipe looks fab. Cheers kathereine

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  15. I have a huge bowl of lemons & that sound slike a perfect idea to use them. We had a corona summer a couple of years ago & could have done with an influx of lemons or limes back then, nothing better than a nice cold corona on a hot day!!!
    Cheers

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  16. Yum, 2 jars to Victoria please!

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