Lemon Curd
(makes 2 cups)

Wash and dry:
4 lemons

Grate the zest of one of the lemons on the small holes of a grater. Juice the lemons; there should be about 1/2 cup juice.

Beat until just mixed:
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)

Stir in the lemon juice and zest and add:

6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Cook the mixture in a small nonreactive heavy pan, stirring constantly over medium heat until it is thick enough to coat a spoon (nape). Do not boil or the eggs will curdle. When thick, pour into a bowl or glass jar to cool. Cover and refrigerate.

Variations:
-With their sweeter juice and perfumed peel, meyer lemons make an especially good curd. Make the recipe with the juice of 1 regular lemon and 3 meyer lemonds and the grated zest of 2 meyer lemons.

-To make a frosting, fold lightly sweetened whipped cream into lemon curd. I usually use equal parts of whipped cream and curd.

-T0 make a lemon curd tart, prebake an 9-inch Sweet Tart Dough shell and fill with 2 cups lemon curd. Smooth out the curd and bake in preheated 375 F oven for 15-20 minutes or until the lemon curd is set.

(if you want the tart dough recipe I can send that to you too, just let me know!)

p.s. thanks for the inspiration, I bought a few quince this week at the farmers market and after learning one cannot just eat them, I made a quince jam and canned them. It came out so good!