Lemon curd and scones

Right up there with Dalmatia Fig Spead, lemon curd has to be one of the most perfect foods in the the universe and it is very easy to make. Eat it by the spoonful right out of the container (sometimes I just skip the spoon altogether; no one's coming over for tea and scones this week so this batch is all mine and I can stick my finger in it if I want to), eat it with a scone or an english muffin, use it in any of the recipes you can find on epicurious.com (Petite Lemon Curd Cookies, Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Curd and Marscapone both sound wonderful).



Perfect Lemon Curd
Ingredients
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

Preparation

Whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart saucepan.

Cut butter into bits and add to mixture.

Cook mixture, stirring constantly, over moderately low heat until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes. (You can make the curd 1 week ahead and chill it, covering its surface with plastic wrap.)

Yields 1 2/3 cup curd.

Tender Raisin Scones

Ingredients

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark raisins
1 1/4 cups whole milk




Preparation


Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Cut butter into bits and, with your fingertips or a pastry blender, blend into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

Using a fork, stir raisins and milk until just combined.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and, with floured hands, knead until it forms a dough.

Roll out dough into a 9-inch round (about 1/2 inch thick) and cut out scones with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter.

Arrange scones 1 inch apart on a buttered large baking sheet and gently reroll and cut out scraps.

Bake scones in middle of a 425°F oven until pale golden, about 15 minutes, and transfer to a rack to cool.

Yields 10 scones.

Source for both recipes is Bon Appetit.