Mini Doughnuts and Lemon Curd

A lemon tree dripping with yellow balls of sunshine is a sight to see. But after you’ve given away the surplus from a jumbo harvest to friends and neighbours and the community at large, there should still be some left over for a sweet and sour explosion of flavour like lemon curd.

When life gives you lemons, as they say, make lemon curd.

Lemon curd is versatile. Spoon it over ice cream, pancakes, scones, use it between cake layers, make a lemon meringue tart, or simply smear it on a slice of hot buttered toast. It can also be used with savoury dishes like roast chicken, or just eaten straight from the jar. We paired our lemon curd with mini doughnuts. You can fill them or dip them, but whatever you do, make a lot.

Mini doughnuts and lemon curd

Lemon curd

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs and 5 egg yolks
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 110ml lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
• 110g castor sugar
• 60g cold butter, chopped

Method:

Place all the ingredients except for the butter in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Place the bowl on top of a saucepan of boiling water. Don’t allow the water to touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir until the mixture has heated and thickened. Take off the heat and stir in the butter until it has melted and combined into the curd. Pour into a sterilised jar and cool, then store in the fridge. Makes one jar.

Mini doughnuts

Ingredients:

• 220ml milk
• 50g butter
• 40g castor sugar (plus extra for dusting)
• 2 eggs
• 5g dry yeast
• 300g cake flour
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• Lemon zest

Method:

Heat the milk in a saucepan until tepid. Add the butter, sugar, eggs and yeast and mix well. Pour into the centre of the flour and beat to form a smooth batter. Cover and place in a warm spot to prove for 45 minutes. Heat the oil in a saucepan and drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil, and cook until browned on all sides. Test them as you go to make sure the centre is cooked through. Mix castor sugar and lemon zest together and roll the doughnuts in this mixture while hot. Serve with the lemon curd piped into the middle or as a dip.

Read More: Learn how to grow your own lemon tree.