Here we are on a blustery March Saturday afternoon in Hampshire. After an erratic Winter, the chickens have come into full lay at The Birdhouse. Huzzah!

Normally that means eight eggs every day. But the neighbours are away and this results in the luxury of their eggs too. So twelve eggs a day. That’s a lot of eggs for our family. And although we really like eggs, what to do with them all?

Obviously this week egg meals have been on the menu: poached eggs for a scummy and nutritious school breakfast; scrambled eggs with fried mushrooms for lunch; spicy cheese and tomato omelettes for dinner. A quick banana loaf to utilise up some browning bananas brings down the egg count. But still the eggs keep a coming. Now we are into egg specialist recipe. What to opt for? Pancakes? Curd? Mousse? Yorkshire puddings? How about all of the above?

Today is curd and mousse day. A quick check of the fruit bowl reveals four limes: two mottled & mature bad boys and two fresh glowing newbies. The former perfect for flavoursome and plentiful juice, the latter good for zingy zest and vibrance of colour. And, of course, this is a house that lets not a day pass by without an element of chilli infuse our cooking. So, Lime & Chilli Curd, let’s get cooking!

The recipe is super simple, it makes 1 x 500ml jar of curd:

• 225g sugar
• 50g butter
• 4 eggs
• juice of four limes
• zest of two limes
• 2 tsp of chilli flakes

The citrus juice and zest can be replaced with any acidic liquid and complimentary flavours. Strawberries & mint, champagne & passionfruit, bergamot orange & bay. Lemon and cardamon. The options are endless and tantalising.

1. Place the sugar, juice, eggs and butter in a heavy bottomed pan and very gently heat the mix.
2. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon. Do not let it cook too quickly or you will have lime flavoured scrambled egg on your hands. Expect to spend 15 minutes standing at the stove, stirring. Don’t be tempted to turn the heat up. It just takes time. You are looking for a thickened liquid, cloudy with a subtle sort of whitish foam forming as it heats.
3. Then strain through a sieve. Some curd recipes use only yolk, this avoids the blobby white bits but doesn’t use the whole egg. Not the aim here. Straining produces a smooth, silky curd.
4. Add the lime zest and chilli flakes whilst still warm to allow the flavours to integrate.
5. Jar up and you’re done. The curd will keep for a week in the fridge.

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Simple, right?

And what will we be doing with our curd? Why serving it under a pillow of chocolate mousse of course. And the recipe for the mousse? Simple again…

• 2 eggs
• 60g dark chocolate (at least 70%)
• 2 tsp sugar

1. Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Separate the eggs. Careful to make sure no yolk goes into the whites. This would stop the whites from whisking properly.
3. Whisk the whites to stiff peaks. Use an electric beater. It takes about a minute.
4. Add the sugar, whisk again. Just a quick blast with the beater.
5. Add the yolks to the chocolate. Stir in with a spatula. The mix will thicken but don’t worry, it will loosen when you add the whites,
6. Add a third of the egg whites and whisk in. Good old beater again.
7. Now carefully fold the rest of the whites into the mix. Use a spatula and make sure there are no white streaks. Classic folding figure of eight, Don’t lose that air now. At this stage you could add a few chilli sprinkles if you want-mmmm!
8. Spoon into your chosen vessel and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

So there we have it, a whole lot of egg gone to a good place and with the added bonus of using chillies too.