On Sunday morning my friend Deb invited me for coffee. I never go out for coffee because I’m always working. I went this time because I work from home and sometimes I really miss girly talk. I can talk to John but I can get as much reaction from talking to the wall if he’s got some programming thing he’s trying to sort out in the background. Men can’t do two things at once.
Deb and I went to a lovely cafe on Lake Kawana and sat outside facing the beach and the lake. There were mums and dads and kids everywhere with kids playing in the sand, two little boys fishing from the pontoon, skateboarders and people eating and people walking the path around the lake. It was an idyllic setting. Did I take photos? No, I was out for fun with a friend, but I when I decided to make the raisin bread with lemon curd I went back and took a photo for you.
I had Charlie in the car with me – he loves to go in the car – so I thought, maybe I should swing by the beach on the way home and toss the ball for him. We get to the beach and there’s NO ball in the car, just the empty thrower thing. (I need a thrower because I throw like a girl I’m told.) Not to be outdone, I decided there must be a driftwood stick we could use.
Charlie Before Stick
We looked for about 3 minutes and we found an old piece of bamboo about 1 1/2 feet wide. Perfect. I tossed, he ran. He didn’t bring it back. It took about 5 minutes to teach him that a stick worked like a ball.
Charlie After Stick
It was a lovely winter afternoon at the beach. There were a few dogs and a few surfers and that was about it.
Now where was I? Oh yes, at Lake Kawana with Deb. We ordered coffee and with it we had some fruit bread with lemon curd. Why they call it fruit bread when it’s nothing but raisin or sultana bread I don’t know but maybe it just sounds classier. It was a perfect Sunday breakfast by the lake.
I got up this morning thinking that maybe I should make it for John. He doesn’t have a very large sweet tooth but every once in a while something hits and he’s happy to dig in. One of those days was today.
I made a lovely raisin bread that I got from Nick Malgieri that was really delicious. Then I made the now famous lemon curd from Cafe Terra Blog and Big Fat Baker. I love this stuff. When I was in the states we called it lemon butter but whatever the name, I can’t get enough. The only thing I did differently was to make it in my Thermomix. I know that’s probably cheating but seriously it takes no time at all.
This recipe is a dump everything in the machine, set to 90°C for 7 minutes and bam, it’s done. Put it in jars a let it cool, then keep it in the fridge IF there is any left to keep in the fridge.
- 1 cup sugar
- 80 grams butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ⅔ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 3 ordinary sized lemons)
- zest of one lemon
- Place lemons in the microwave for 25 seconds and then roll under your hand to get the most juice.
- Zest one lemon (I used a microplane just because I think it's easiest)
- Place the sugar and zest in the Thermomix and mill for 6 seconds at speed 10
- Add the remainder of the ingredients and set at 90C for 7 minutes.
- Pour into jars.