Mum's Lemon Butter recipe

Mum would often make Lemon Butter.  We had a lemon tree so lemons were always plentiful.
Mum's Lemon Butter  was always so delicious that it often did not get into a dish- a couple of mouthfuls of lemon butter from the jar was delightful taste in itself.  Mum's recipe is slightly different from my aunt's recipe. Both recipes work well, so it is a matter of choice which you prefer in taste and what ingredients you have available.

 MUM'S LEMON BUTTER

INGREDIENTS:

2 Lemons.                             

2 Eggs.

2oz Butter.                            

½ lb of Sugar.

METHOD:

1. Wipe lemons, grate rind, using only the yellow part.  Squeeze the lemon juice.

2. Beat eggs, and add the grated rind, juice, sugar and butter.
Then add all ingredients to a pot (double preferably).*

3. Cook over boiling water, stirring until the butter dissolves, and then occasionally.

4. Cook for 3-5 minutes, after the lemon butter begins to thicken. It will change to a lighter colouring.
 

5. Pour into prepared jars and seal as for jam.

 

NB: Mum worked in pounds and ounces in those days. The equivalent would be:

2 oz of Butter= 56.7 GRAMS.

1/2 lb of Sugar=  226.80 GRAMS. 

Mum said it was important only to use the lemon part of the lemon as the pith ( white part) can be bitter. Before zesting, she used to scrub the fruit with a sponge and warm, soapy water. then she would rinse it well and dry it with a paper towel.  She always had the lemon at room temperature.  However nowadays, if you want to bring it to room temperature quickly and get more juice from your lemons, then place in microwave for 10-20 seconds before use.

When Mum was using lemons for both zest and juice, she used to grate the zest first and then squeeze the juice.  When grating lemon peel,  she used to cover the zest side of the grater with plastic wrap and grate the lemon over the plastic wrap. Most of the zest  remained on the plastic wrap and  did not  stick in the holes of the grater.  She used to pull the plastic wrap off and shake the zest onto a plate. Mum favoured getting the most out of her ingredients and also anything that meant easier washing up afterwards.

*Variation
I use just one pot but I spray it lightly but carefully before use. Obviously it means you have to watch the cooking process more diligently- one look away and it can be burnt lemon butter in an instant. So don't look away for a moment if you use this method.  When I double the recipe, I prefer to use a double pot method.