When Life Gives You Lemons……and Limes…… and oranges....

So today’s shipment of produce arrived. It has many many...lemons and limes and oranges. I was prepared for this because I checked online to see what I would be getting. I looked up a recipe I once made, a DELICIOUS lemon curd tart. So that is what I am planning to do for Shabbat dessert. The beauty of lemon curd is that you can use it to fill a variety of things, like a premade pie crust, mini tarts, or put it in small ceramic dishes and eat it like pudding. You can also dip strawberries in it or spread it on bread. If you have not tried it, it is amazing!

Lemon curd also, however, contains a lot of butter and eggs. So I did a little research on how we can lesson the caloric impact. I found a fantastic and easy sounding vegan lemon curd recipe that I am going to try. Don’t let the term Vegan scare you! It used to scare me, and conjure up images of alfalfa sprout sandwiches and tofu encrusted, well, tofu, but I recently learned that it simply means free of animal products. To me, that means lo cal and healthy. Without further rambling, here is a recipe for Vegan Lemon Curd, followed by a the first recipe for Lime Curd that I have made, from THE Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, containing all the butter and eggs you could want. You may use lemon, lime, or orange juice and zest in both recipes.
I am going to see how the Vegan version stands up to Ina's tried and true recipe.

Vegan Lemon Curd

see Related Sites for link to recipe at Dairy Free Cooking About.com


1 ¼ C. Lemon Juice
1 ¼ C. Sugar
2 Tablespoons Zest
¼ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons coconut milk
3 Tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tablespoons cold water
2 Tablespoons Soy Margarine, like Earth Balance Brand, divided

Mix first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves

Add Cornstarch and Coconut Milk, stir for about 8 minutes
Add Margarine, stir until resembles thick pudding. Cool outside fridge to room temperature, then chill in fridge. Fill piecrusts or whatever you are planning to fill, then chill.

Can be made a day or 2 ahead of time

Barefoot Contessa Lime Curd

4 limes at room temperature
1 ½ Cups Sugar
¼ pound unsalted butter at room temp
4extra large eggs at room temp
1/8 tsp salt

Fills 1 10 inch tart shell or 5 4 ½ inch tart shells

Remove the zest of 4 limes with a vegetable peeler or zester. Squeeze the limes to make ½ cup of juice and set aside. Put zest in food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the sugar and process for 2-3 minutes, until the zest is very finely minced. Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, and add in the sugar and zest. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the juice and salt. Mizx until combined. Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat , stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. The lime curd will thicken at about 175 degrees, or just below a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside. Fill the tart shells or whatever you are using and allow to set at room temperature. Store in refridgerator and bring to room temperature before serving.