JUMP TO RECIPE

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!

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