Martha Stewart'S Ca. 1995 Best Lemon Curd - cooking recipe

Ingredients

6 egg yolks, beaten (adding whites makes it lighter and less rich)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, strained
1/2 cup unsalted butter (COLD and cut into small pieces to melt faster )
1 tablespoon lemon rind, grated

Preparation

Beat the egg yolks until well blended and lemon yellow in colour. Strain the egg yolks through a sieve into a medium-size heavy saucepan. (Sieving removes any shells or albumen; heavy saucpan prevents curdling.).
Add the sugar and lemon juice, stir to combine, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10-15 minutes. DO NOT HURRY THE PROCESS OR THE EGGS WILL CURDLE!
Cook until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and immediately pour through another sieve to catch any \"scrambled egg bits\". Pour into a heat proof 4 cup measuring cup and stir in the cold butter pieces, which cools down the mixture quickly.
Add the rind, continue stirring until well-blended.
Transfer to whatever storage container you want: either a large one or several samll ones.
Shelf Life: MUST BE REFRIGERATED! Keeps 2 weeks.
Variations:.
Lime Curd: substitute lime juice and increase grated lime peel to 2 tablespoons.
Orange Curd: Use orange juice, decrease sugar to 2/3 cup. 1 tablespoon orange peel.
Grapefruit Curd: Use grapefruit juice, same sugar and zest as lemon curd.