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.