Save Dessert! 3 Ways To Temper Eggs

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In many places during World War 2, eggs were one of several foods that were hard to get. In England, eggs were rationed to one per person per week, for most of the 1940s. One egg per week! Imagine making all your meals at home, from scratch, using only one egg a week. Wasting one could have made a person cry.

Don’t Curdle for Me

Being the precious items they were, curdling one in a recipe that was supposed to be smooth and creamy would have made for a sad day as well as a mess.

If you’ve ever tried a recipe that calls for adding eggs to a hot mixture and ended up straining scrambled egg out of your once-appetizing food, then this post is for you. It’s all about how to keep those lovely dishes smooth and creamy instead of tossing them in the trash because the scrambled-egg look also curdled your stomach.

Some WW2-era recipes don’t include tempering in the instructions. I have seen many vintage recipes that don’t. Perhaps it was assumed knowledge at the time. I remember the first recipe I ever tried that left out this important step. It took a moment to realize what the little floaters in the custard were. Disgusting!

How to Temper Eggs in Custard

Tempering eggs is easy and a technique well worth learning. Here is how to temper eggs in custard:

If the recipe calls for adding eggs to a hot mixture already coming together on the stove, then first lightly whisk the eggs in a separate bowl away from heat. Then, take one-half to one cup (4-8 ounces) of the hot mixture and add it slowly to the eggs, whisking constantly. Now, add the tempered eggs to the rest of the hot mixture on the stove while continuing to whisk. A whisk is your best tempering friend.

Isn’t it amazing, how the same ingredients work one way so much better than another? You can’t beat mysterious kitchen science.

Enjoy my recipe for Lovely Lemon Curd and try this tempering experiment for yourself. Lemons were unavailable in Britain during the war and could only be enjoyed when sent home by military personnel serving in locations such as Italy. The people who received them wrote about how wonderful they were. What an extravagant treat lemon curd would have been!

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Lovely Lemon Curd

Yield 4x 13-ounce jars

Author Harriett Sebastian

Prep time

20 Min

Cook time

15 Min

Total time

35 Min

This recipe calls for tempering the eggs, which makes it much easier to prepare a delicious, smooth curdfree of scrambled bits.

Ingredients

• 2 T lemon zest
• 2 c sugar
• 1 c butter
• 1-2/3 c lemon juice
• Heavy pinch of salt
• 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 c butter

Instructions

1. Combine lemon zest and sugar, and set aside.
2. Melt butter in double boiler. Remove to a small bowl and set aside.
3. Add sugar-lemon zest mixture, salt and lemon juice to double boiler. Heat until sugar has dissolved, whisking occasionally.
4. When sugar is dissolved, add melted butter and heat to 180°F, whisking often.
5. Temper the eggs by slowly adding 1 cup of the hot lemon-butter mixture (about 2 tablespoons at a time) to the beaten eggs, whisking constantly.
6. After the hot mixture is incorporated into the eggs, slowly pour the tempered egg mixture into the double boiler while constantly whisking.
7. Continue to whisk constantly while mixture cooks for 10-15 minutes, until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat; then, ladle into sterilized jars and set aside to cool. Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and shield; my heart trusted in Him and I am helped; therefore, my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise Him.

Psalm 28:6-7