Summer is the time when you can enjoy fresh fruits. Therefore, it’s just perfect for a lemon curd strawberry Danish. Three layers to discover bite after bite; a delicious lemon curd between buttery puff pastry and sweet strawberries. This beautiful piece of food art is great for any occasion and you can use any fruits of your choice.
I’ve never made lemon curd before. Why? I can’t think of a good excuse for it right now. After I read some recipes, I realised it is totally easy. In fact, so easy, that anyone can make it. And like I always say, why to buy something, when you can make it yourself.
This lemon curd is just amazing! I love the silky consistency and the sweet yet sour flavour. Therefore, it goes perfectly with fruity strawberries covered with chocolate. What a combo?! Moreover, the choices, how to use lemon curd, are almost unlimited.
Lemon curd is perfect to layer a cake, fill a croissant, spoon onto yoghurt or ice-cream, mix with whipped cream, spread on bread or simply eat it out of the jar. It’s so delicious! In addition, I didn’t use any flour or cornstarch (as usually, these things help the creams to thicken).
Afterwards, if you’ll still have some of the lemon curd left, you can keep it in a glass jar in the fridge for up to one week. But I see it difficult to last so long. It is too darn delicious!
Last but not least, I bought the puff pastry dough already done. No need to make it from scratch all by yourself. The dough found at the supermarket is perfectly fine. It puffs up, it’s buttery, crispy and lovely golden-brown.
Ingredients for a lemon curd strawberry Danish (ca 30×15 cm):
- 20-25 strawberries
- 100 g chocolate
- a roll of puff pastry dough
- 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds
Ingredients for lemon curd:
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- 100 g butter (cubes)
- 100 ml honey
- 3-4 lemons (1 Tbsp lemon zest, 180 ml lemon juice)
I divided my “things to do” in three parts: strawberries, lemon curd and then puff pastry. First, wash the strawberries, cut the bottom (with the green part) off and dry them with some paper towels.
Furthermore, in a double boiler (be sure that the simmering water doesn’t touch the bowl on top) melt the chocolate. Then dip in the tip of the strawberries, one by one and place them on a plate (cut part down). Once they are all done, put them in the fridge and let the chocolate harden. The first part is done.
For the lemon curd, you will also need a double boiler. I suggest preparing all the ingredients in front of you (right amounts), in order to make everything run smoothly. In a small bowl whisk the egg yolks (keep the egg whites for the pastry), the egg and half of the honey. Whisk until fluffy.
Furthermore, wash the lemons, grate them trying to get only the yellow parts (avoid the white bitter part) and then squeeze them into a pot (without the seeds). Warm up the lemon juice for 30 seconds.
In the double boiler, combine butter, the rest of honey, lemon zest (thinly grated) and lemon juice. Again, don’t let the simmering water touch the bowl on top. Whisk for 5 minutes until the butter and honey dissolve.
Stir , stir, stir
Then, remove from the heat and whisk in the egg mixture. Put back on the heat and continue to stir with a wooden spoon for about 15-20 minutes until the curd starts to thicken.
Once the lemon curd covers the back of your spoon with a layer, it is done. Remove from the heat. It will still look runny, but while cooling down it will also thicken. When it is still lukewarm, place it in the fridge and it will get even thicker.
I used my lemon curd within 1 hour. So I just left it in the same bowl to cool down. Otherwise, fill it into glass jars and like I said, keep it in the fridge up to one week. But I bet it won’t last so long. Hehehe.
Next, preheat the oven to 200ºC. Take the dough out of the fridge (it is easier to work with it when it’s cold) and unroll it on a sheet of baking paper. As you can see, I cut my dough in a shape that I wanted (30x15cm) and the rest I used for smaller pastry. You can choose any shape you like (square, circle, triangle etc).
Moreover, with the back of a knife, cut parallel to the borders about 1,5 cm from the outside border. Be careful not to cut completely through it. You will get a form like a frame. Do you see it?
Use a fork to prick the part inside the frame (the bigger part of the dough). Like that the border will puff-up for a nice “wall” while baking. At least it should. Hehehe. Brush the borders with the egg whites (whisk them with a fork) and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Put in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden and puffy. Take it out of the oven and let it cool. Now, don’t panic if the middle part is too high. Slightly push it down, so that you see a border forming around it.
Once everything is cooled down, spread the lemon curd over the dough (keeping it inside the borders) and place the strawberries on top.
Serve this fantastic lemon curd strawberry Danish all summer long (but not only). It is a great dessert and a delicious treat for your friends and family. In addition, you can brag about the homemade lemon curd as well. Wink!
Enjoy!
PS
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
