This week marks two months since I received my happy news from Dairy Hollow about the Egg Board fellowship, and 2 1/2 months until I pack up my notes and my equipment and my chef’s whites and leave for a month’s stay in the Ozarks. In that time, I have begun to panic at just how quickly two months can pass; yet, at the same time, I can see a plan begin to take shape, both in the book I am writing and in the demo class I will be teaching at Dairy Hollow. As I was drifting off to sleep one night, the idea came to me. Three breads: an eggless white sandwich loaf, a white sandwich loaf with eggs, a brioche. Three lemon curds: a lower-fat curd, a “regular” curd, a rich curd lower in eggs but much, much higher in butter. If time and oven space permit, three custards: a stovetop creme anglaise, a flan, a creme brulee.
The pictures below are the results of the lemon curd test, in which I went through a pound of butter, 1 1/2 pounds of sugar, 15 eggs and a dozen lemons. Each of these versions has approximately the same amount of sugar (2/3 - 1 cup) and lemon juice (3/4 - 1 cup). On the bottom right-hand corner of the plate is the lower-fat curd, based on a recipe by Sally Schneider. In addition to the sugar and lemon juice, it contains a small amount of egg and no butter; it is thickened by gelatin and additional egg white. It is intensely lemony and puckery, with a texture almost like lemon jelly. The curd on the top right-hand corner is a traditional lemon curd, this one created by Sherry Yard. It contains a higher proportion of eggs and is enriched with additional egg yolks and half a stick of butter. It is the eggiest of the bunch, and it shows. The one on the left is less a curd than a cream, created by the brilliant French pastry chef Pierre Herme. It contains much less egg than the traditional curd, but the difference is made up with butter, nearly 3/4 pound of butter. It is not nearly as tangy as the other curds, but it is both richer and lighter, richer for the butter and lighter for that butter being beaten in, piece by piece, with a portable blender. It tastes like a sublime lemon pudding, or like the best lemon buttercream you’ve ever had.
If I had to pick one, though, I would go with the traditional curd. It has the right amount of snap, the right amount of smoothness, the right amount of sweetness. It begs to be spread on a piece of toasted pound cake, or better yet, gingerbread, a dark, damp gingerbread so spicy it makes your mouth tingle.
Late-Breaking PTMYB News: After four years of temping, Lloyd has been offered, and has accepted, a permanent job with the company he’s working for now. This company, which I used to refer to as Giant Financial Services Monolith, shall hereforth be known in this space as Number One Happy Good Fun Time Company. Thank you, Number One Happy Good Fun Time Company, for recognizing a good thing when you see it.