Vegan Lemon Curd

(pictured: Vegan Lemon Curd, still quite warm)

Lemons contain limonins that are reported to fight cancer of the mouth, skin, lung, breast, stomach and colon. Lemons are also a good source of vitamin C and are anti-inflammatory. It has been reported that consuming lemons can help with joint discomfort. Overall, lemons are a good item to work into your meals whenever you can.

Lemon curd is one of my favorite desserts. What I never liked was the fat and calories in the original version. This is my version of a low calorie vegan lemon curd. It is great with blueberries or other fresh fruit.

Vegan Lemon Curd
makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of soymilk or almond milk
5 tablespoons of agave
2 ½ tablespoons of whole wheat pastry flour (shifted to remove large grains)
2 teaspoons of arrowroot
¼ teaspoon of lemon extract
1 lemon (zest and juice)
2 teaspoons of vegan margarine (earth balance)
scant 1/8 teaspoon turmeric

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except the lemon juice and margarine and whisk over low to medium heat until the mixture thickens. Then add the lemon juice and whisk thoroughly to combine. Add the margarine a teaspoon at a time and whisk thoroughly to combine. Place in a container to cool and refrigerate until needed.

The curd will become much thicker when it is completely cold. Put the vegan lemon curd into a food processor to return it to a soft spoonable consistency. Don’t process any longer than necessary to change the texture, you don’t want the vegan lemon curd to get warm.

Nutritional Information (this recipe versus the standard recipe):

Calories - 106.51 vs. 458.72
Calories From Fat - 29.64 (28%) vs. 235.78 (51%)

Total Fat - 3.29g vs. 26.73 g
Saturated Fat - 0.66g vs. 15.73g
Cholesterol - 0mg vs. 219.58mg
Sodium - 65.68mg vs. 126.51mg
Potassium - 181.1mg vs. 98.27mg
Total Carbohydrates - 15.91g vs. 53.17g
Fiber - 2.97g vs. 0.28g
Sugar - 4.72g vs. 51.06g
Protein - 3.82g vs. 5.1g

Comments:

The texture of this curd when cold and not processed is little too thick. However, the texture without processing would be perfect on lemon bars. If you were looking for a vegan lemon bar filling this one should work well.

Update:

My friend Louis suggested that I post the nutritional information of a standard lemon curd recipe so that everyone could see the difference in all the categories. With the exception of a little more protein every single nutritional measurement on my recipe is far superior to the original. I had to admit I am a little stunned by the difference between the two. I knew that lemon curd wasn't a "health" food but I didn't realize how unhealthy it was.