Homemade lemon curd is quite a treat for citrus lovers. It’s tart and sweet, lusciously smooth and creamy. Only 4 ingredients and 30 minutes to enjoy this luscious dessert topping!
I love lemons just as much as I love chocolate and caramel.
A few years ago, I went overboard and bought a case of 35lbs of lemons!!! True story… And I didn’t regret it one bit, because I learned to make a lemon curd.
Table of Contents
What is lemon curd?
Technically, lemon curd is a custard-like citrus sauce, almost like a pudding, but better.
It’s smooth and creamy, tart and sweet.
Lemon curd is an ideal filling for many pastries, like creme puffs, cakes and such. If you’re a true lemon lover, you’ll appreciate that tangy rich lemon bite. And if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy it by a spoonful!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
This lemon curd recipe is so easy to make and tastes 100x better than a store-bought curd!
Unlike many lemon curd recipes out there, my recipe calls for whole eggs, instead of just egg yolks, and produces the same rich and creamy curd! Yay!
Ingredient Notes:
You need simple ingredients, most of which you probably have in your pantry.
- Lemon juice – Nothing compares to freshly squeezed lemon juice when it comes to making lemon curd. You’ll need 4-5 medium lemons.
- Lemon zest enhances the lemon flavor. Only zest the top yellow portion and avoid bitter white pith! A microplane zester is handy tool for this job.
- Eggs – My recipe is developed specifically for whole eggs. You’ll still get the lusciously rich curd!
- Sugar – Don’t be tempted to reduce the sugar amount. It yields perfectly balanced sweetness and plays an important role in thickening the sauce.
- Butter makes the curd lusciously creamy. It also helps to thicken it. If you want your curd to be on thicker side, you may add 1-2 tablespoons of additional butter. Choose unsalted butter for this recipe.
How to make this recipe:
Let me walk you through the entire process, step by step!
1. Cook the curd
- First, whisk all the ingredients in a saucepan before turning on the heat. That way you’ll prevent scrambling the egg whites.
- Then turn on the heat to low and cook the mixture, whisking continuously.
- In about 8-10 minutes, the mixture will thicken and bubble up.
- The curd is ready once it reaches 170°F. Another way to test is to run your finger on the back of a wooden spoon dipped in the curd. If the trail stays, it’s ready!
Tip
Stir the mixture continuously to prevent scorching it on the bottom.
2. Cool and add butter
- For lusciously smooth texture, run the mixture through a sieve.
- Then cover the curd with plastic wrap, making sure it touches entire surface. This prevents forming an unappealing film over the curd. Let the curd cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Add butter and stir until the butter is fully incorporated.
- Pour the curd into a airtight container, cover with plastic wrap to touch and refrigerate it until ready to use.
Tips for Success:
- Don’t rush through this process. If you cook the mixture over medium to high heat, you’ll end up with lemon scrambled eggs!
- Continuously whisk the mixture while cooking. No need to whisk vigorously though, just keep stirring slowly while the mixture heats through and cooks
- Cool the curd before adding butter. It’ll prevent the butter from melting into liquid and keeps the curd lusciously creamy!
- Cover the curd with plastic wrap to touch to prevent any film forming on top.
- Once the curd is chilled in the fridge, it’ll thicken more.
Lemon Curd Uses:
There are absolutely endless ways to use lemon curd.
- Curd and English scones are a classic way to serve lemon curd.
- Drizzling it over pancakes and waffles are a perfect way to start your morning!
- For brunches, lemon Chantilly parfaits would be a huge hit!
- Homemade lemon curd is a fabulous for filling cakes, like my lemon layer cake.
- Serve it over ice cream!!
- If straight lemon curd is too much for you, mix it with whipped cream and fill creme puffs, tartlets, or a crepe cake.
- And last but certainly not least, you can use your lemon curd in this lemon raspberry cheesecake bars (my fave!).
Storing Directions:
Store the curd in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Or freeze it for up to 2 months.
FAQs:
I admit, the lemon curd never tastes eggy to me, but I’m not particularly sensitive to egg flavor. Typically, refrigerating homemade lemon curd overnight minimizes the eggy taste.
Avoid using reactive metal saucepan and whisk. Stick with stainless steel. Also, taste the curd after refrigerating overnight, as it may help to improve the metallic taste.
Hope you enjoy this fabulous bright and zesty curd soon!
Homemade Lemon Curd
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice Note 1
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest Note 2
- 5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter cubed Note 3
Helpful Equipment:
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest for a minute.
- Turn on the heat to low and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 170°F (75°C), 8-10 minutes. The mixture will be thick and it'll leave a trail if you run a finger on back of spoon dipped in curd.
- Remove from heat. Place a mesh sieve over a bowl and run the curd through it. It makes the curd silky smooth!
- Then cover the curd with plastic wrap, making sure it touches entire surface. This prevents forming an unappealing film over the curd. Let the curd cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Add butter and stir until the butter is fully incorporated.
- Pour the curd into a airtight container, cover with plastic wrap to touch and refrigerate it until ready to use.
Tips & Notes:
– Store the curd in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
– Or freeze it for up to 2 months.
Nutrition Facts:
This recipe was originally published on May 8, 2015.
Jes and Caroline says
My daughter thought it was a smidge tart so we added an extra 1/4 cup of sugar. Delicious! Not sure if this will last until we make our cake – we want to devour it! Thanks for the recipe 😀
Shinee says
Yay, so happy you loved the recipe. Thank you for your feedback, Jes and Caroline. Hope you have enough curd left for your cake. 😉
Jenny says
Hello Shinee
Can you tell me how long this would last in the refrigerator and are you able to freeze it and use it later? I don’t recall seeing the quantity (cups) your recipe makes?
Thank you!
Jenny
Shinee says
Hi, Jenny. You can store the lemon curd in the fridge for up to 2 months. Make sure it’s in an airtight container. And yes, lemon curd also freezes well. I’ve frozen lemon curd and it’s just as great as fresh one. This recipe makes about 2 cups of lemon curd.
Jen says
I was daunted by other lemon curd recipes, but yours was so easy to make. Mine came out a little too tart, but still delicious. I guess we’re used to the sweeter store-bought kind. And I confess, I screwed up because I guess I didn’t hit 170 degrees (my bad) and it didn’t thicken overnight, but I heated it in the microwave and that corrected the problem. So the recipe seems pretty fool-proof!
Shinee says
That’s awesome, Jen!!! So glad it worked out. Thank you for sharing your feedback.
Michelle Santucci says
This is excellent! The tarter the better! Used Meyer lemons from my tree. Love that whole eggs work so well. I actually prefer this recipe than the yolk only ones, and adding the butter from the beginning just makes the preparation much more efficient. I’ve made this recipe 3 times now (given as gifts) and it’s fail proof.
Shinee says
Hi, Michelle!! So, so happy to read your feedback!! Thank you for trying my recipe and sharing!!
Michele says
This was really easy and tasted very good. I doubled it and made hand pies. They were great!
Shinee says
Hi, Michele! So glad you enjoyed the lemon curd. Hand pies sounds delicious!
Carmella says
I had lemon curd once on a cruise and it was just delightful, it really made me like lemon flavored things more. I wish I knew what you were doing with 35 pounds of lemons though LOL
Shinee says
Haha that was a bit overwhelming amount of lemons, to be honest, Carmella. But I didn’t waste a single one. We had lots of lemon meringue pies, lemonade and, of course, lemon curd. 🙂
Rosann says
Thank you so much for your recipe, I will give it a try. Mine is similar with a couple of differences. I use one more whole egg and 1/4 cup corn starch. Mine comes out a bit grainy and I think that it might be the corn starch. I have had a problem with cooking it too long or not long enough which makes it to thick or too runny. I love the idea of using a thermometer, takes the guess out. Do you think it will be thick/firm enough for a lemon tart?
PS: Meyer Lemons are fabulous for lemon curd!
Shinee says
Hi, Rosann! I just recently learned that cornstarch does give grainy texture to the mixture when combined with an acidic juice. Try using tapioca starch in place of cornstarch. But this curd isn’t thick enough for tart, but tapioca starch will help. And yeah, dying to try meyer lemon. Can you believe I’ve never tried it? We don’t have that around here. 🙁
Dianna says
Are you saying that the curd will be runny instead of thick? I thought the eggs were used to thicken the curd. I wanted to use this recipe for little lemon curd tarts but I don’t want a runny curd when you bite into it. If you used tapioca starch to thicken it, how much would you recommend using?
Shinee says
Hi, Dianna. I wouldn’t say it’s really runny curd, because it does thicken when it’s cooled completely. But if you’re looking for something that sets like lemon meringue pie, this curd won’t do that. It’s more scoopable, than sliceable. (I just made up some words, but hope that makes sense.)
Elizabeth says
Shinee,
I am so excited to make this recipe and then the lemon raspberry tartlets! I just had two questions….
The picture shows using a strainer to remove any lumps. Is this also to remove the lemon zest as well? Would the zest give it a bitter taste if left in? Just curious ????
Shinee says
Oops, forgot to mention that step in the recipe. Thanks for asking, Elizabeth. Straining removes the lumps, if any, and makes it even more silky smooth. If you zest the lemon on microplane, it should be pretty tiny abd it pretty much disintegrates in the curd. Also make sure to zest just the outer layer of skin, which shouldn’t make the curd bitter. If you go too far into white part of the skin, then yeah it’ll get bitter. Hope you enjoy the curt and tartlets!! Let me know. 🙂