Jonathan Blot’s French Lemon Custard

1. Start by zesting the Lemon Zests (3) : My favorite tool for this is the microplane

2.  I strongly advise you to consider organic lemons, as we are zesting, the fruit skin needs no chemicals !

Microplane Zester GraterZester Deiss

3. For the Lemon Juice (½ Cup or 125 g) : Cut and squeeze Lemons

4.  Please do not substitute with bottled lemon juice ! Those already-squeezed juices come with preservatives and above all, their taste is just disgusting... your custard will not taste as good as squeezed fresh lemons !

Orange and Citrus SqueezerCitrus JuicerMueller Juicer Ultra Power

5. In a large mixing bowl, mix with wire whip the Eggs (4) and half of Sugar (⅓ Cup or 75 g)

6. In a saucepan goes the Lemon Juice (½ Cup or 125 g), the Lemon Zests (3) and the 2nd half of Sugar (⅓ Cup or 75 g)

7.  Heat the saucepan until bubbles form at edges and then pour onto the bowl, while stirring the eggs mixture

8. Transfer the bowl content onto the saucepan

Scanpan SaucepanCalphalon Nonstick Sauce Pan DeBuyer Whisk

9.  Cook on medium heat while stirring : Keep stirring with a rubber spatula to avoid lumps

10.  You want to cook slowly, and not on high flame. This takes a bit of time

KitchenAid Silicone Spatula Set Le Creuset Silicone Spatula

11. At some point, the liquid thickens and becomes a custard. You should change utensils and use a wire whip, and whisk frantically, while scraping the bottom and sides to avoid lumps

12. Once the custard is thick enough (but not too much !), transfer onto a clean pan or a clean bowl

13. Wrap airtight (to avoid the custard to crust)

USA Mini Sheet Warp Resistant Nonstick Baking PanSilicone Baking Mat with EdgesFood Wrap

14.  Allow to cool down at room temperature, and wait until the temperature reaches 85 °F / 30 °C

15.  We cool down to avoid the butter to be "cooked" (this would give a bad taste)

Digital Laser Infrared ThermometerMatfer Pocket Digital Thermometer

16. Once this temperature reached, pour onto a Food Processor (with chopping blades) ('robot coupe')

17. Add in the Butter (1 Cup or 200 g) (diced, and cold)

18. Give it a few pulses to allow the blades to mix the custard and butter

KitchenAid Food ProcessorFood Processor Cuisinart