Mum's lemon butter

I was hooked on mum's lemon butter or 'jam', as we would call it growing up. It was always on hand in the fridge, ready to generously lather all over my toast in the morning or to top a Salada biscuit for an after school snack.  As a treat, mum would send my sister and I to school with lemon jam sandwiches or fill homemade shortcrust tartlets with the jam, we also topped her homemade scones with it for a weekend lunch . . . we enjoyed it in so many ways. So of course, it goes without saying that mum was in the kitchen making the scrumptious lemony spread very regularly! Lucky for her (and us), grandad had a lovely big lemon tree in his back garden, so we were never short of the good stuff :)

I remember mum would painstakingly grate the rind from each lemon by hand and stand by the stovetop, stirring the mixture continuously so it wouldn't catch on the bottom of the saucepan. As her recipe includes whole eggs rather than just the yolks, she would also have to watch that the egg whites didn't cook out of the mixture and make it lumpy. Mum quickly adapted her recipe for the microwave, but still, if you don't stop the oven and stir the mixture regularly, you risk the egg white cooking . . . .Oh mum, if only you had had a Thermomix to help you out in the kitchen . . . no more grating and stirring. . . just leave the mix in the capable hands of the Thermomix, sit back and read a mag :)

Mum's lemon butter

This lemon butter is lovely and lemony, sweet and slightly tangy, as the recipe includes the zest, juice and the pulp of the lemon. This recipe also contains less sugar than most. Try to source organic lemons if possible.

ingredients

grated zest, juice and pulp of 4-5 good size organic lemons 
200g raw sugar
125g butter, cut into chunks
4 large eggs

method

1. Using a peeler, remove the zest from each lemon (washed & dried) and add to the TM bowl. Finely grate on speed 8 for 10 seconds. Scrape down sides and check that all the peel is finely grated. 
2. Add raw sugar to the grated lemon zest in the TM bowl and grind for 10 seconds on speed 10.
3. Squeeze the juice from the lemons using a lemon juicer with a reservoir to trap the juice, flesh & pips. Pour the juice into the TM bowl and using your spatula scrape in the flesh or 'bits' from the squeezed lemon too, taking care to avoid the pips :) The juice + flesh should amount to about 200-250g. 
4. Add all remaining ingredients and combine on speed 4 for 10 seconds.
5. Cook for 9 minutes at 80 degrees C on speed 3. Check the consistency, the mixture should coat the back of a wooden spoon. Cook for an extra couple of minutes if needed. 
6. Pour into three medium-large sized sterilised jars. Keep in the refrigerator. 

I sterilise my recycled jars (& lids) by first washing well in hot soapy water, rinsing and then placing in a large bowl (previously washed and rinsed in boiling water). I pour boiling water over them and leave for a couple of minutes, then remove the jars only from the boiling water with tongs and place in a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees C for 20 minutes. Don't put the lids in the oven for the full length of time unless they are designed to withstand this temperature. Pour warm lemon butter into warm jars. 

variation ideas

• use coconut oil in place of butter to make this recipe dairy-free
• use an orange and lime in place of two lemons for 'citrus butter'
• I have doubled this recipe quite successfully, you will just need to cook the mixture for a few minutes longer

no thermomix

before my thermomix came on the scene I would make this recipe in the microwave, but you could also make it by the conventional method on the stovetop. 

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