Lemon Filling

This lemon filling does not help my lemon problem.  What problem you ask?  The problem where I cannot say no to anything with lemon in it.  I made this originally to go in between layers of a cake.  I discovered that I made way too much and needed to find other uses for it.  Aside from eating it straight out of the container, (which is a preferred way to eat this lemon filling)  it is perfect with a Pavlova, or a bowl of strawberries, or on a Strawberry Shortcake to fancy it up a bit.  How good would this be on top of waffles or in a lemon meringue pie?  Whatever you want to use this lemon filling for, you are going to be happy that you did.

*I doubled this recipe, it made way too much for what I was using it for.  One batch should be plenty.  It makes 2 cups of filling.*

1 1/2 cups sugar
6 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon lemon zest

Stir together the sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a saucepan.  Add in the lemon juice.

Cook over medium low heat until smooth.  Add the egg yolks and butter.

At this point, I thought that I did something wrong and that it would not come together.  It will, have faith.  Stir this constantly until it thickens and comes together.

Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.  The mixture will thicken.

See, it came together just fine.

I put mine through a strainer just to be sure there were no scrambled egg bits in it.  Stir in the lemon zest.

This will keep in the fridge for about a week.  Thank you Martha for the great recipe.