2 (4) eggs
2 (4) lemons
¾ (1½) cup sugar
3 TBL (6 TBL) butter
8 ounces (12 ounces) whipping cream
*Small Recipe (for 9″ cake): Combine in top of double boiler 2 egg yolks, zest of 3 lemons, ¼ cup lemon juice, pinch of salt, ¾ cup sugar and 3 TBL butter and cook as directed below.
*Full Recipe (for tube cake): Combine in top of double boiler, 4 egg yolks, zest of 4 lemons, ½ cup lemon juice, pinch of salt, 1½ cups sugar and 6 TBL butter.
Set double boiler over medium heat and stir mixture continuously making sure nothing sticks to the pan. Cook for 10-20 minutes… time varies according to the temperature of the ingredients, etc. It is done when the mixture starts to thick and it coats a spoon. (It thickens more when it cools completely.) Transfer to small bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled.
Beat whipping cream (8 ounces for small cake, 12 ounces for large) until it is thick, but peaks don’t form. Add lemon curd to taste, and beat more. Generally there will be more lemon curd than you will need to flavor the whipping cream, but it just depends on how you like it to taste. The excess lemon curd keeps refrigerated up to 5 days.
I haven’t done this, but as a shortcut, just buy some lemon curd and follow the directions for beating the whipped cream in the previous paragraph. I’m sure it will be delicious!