For the Love of Lemon Curd
Lemon curd is often considered a must-have for a traditional afternoon tea. It’s the perfect spread for a scone or muffin, and the tart sweet flavor lends itself to a vast array of recipes. It can be used to make small lemon tarts, as a filling for cakes, as a topping for ice cream or pancakes, or for traditional lemon squares.
What Is Lemon Curd?
Lemon curd is a cooked mix of lemon juice and zest, sugar, butter and eggs. The butter adds a delicious rich and creamy texture. It’s also a great filling for cakes and tarts.
Lemon curd was first made in Britain in the early 1800s. The lemon was used to separate curds from the whey of cream, so originally it was actually a curd. Today, however, it’s more of a spread with a rich, creamy lemony custard-like texture. Totally delicious!
Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
Zest from 4 large lemons
4 large lemons, juiced to at least ¾ cup
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Pinch salt
Start by preparing and measuring all your ingredients and gathering all your supplies. Timing is important when making lemon curd, so it’s helpful to have everything measured and ready.
In addition to the above ingredients, you’ll need a saucepan, a fine mesh sieve or strainer, a rubber spatula, and a whisk.
Over medium heat, in a medium saucepan, whisk together the eggs and the sugar until the mixture is fully combined and the texture is smooth and uniform.
While continuing to whisk, add the juice, zest, and the pinch of salt until fully incorporated.
Once that is blended in, add the butter, one cube at a time, while continuing to stir with the whisk and ensuring to pull the curd from all the sides of the saucepan.
Continue to cook the curd over medium heat, for about 5-8 minutes, whisking occasionally, until the mixture has a pudding-like texture. Remove from the heat. (The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools.)
Strain the curd while still warm through the fine mesh strainer to remove any bits of egg and lemon zest. Use the spatula to push the curd through the strainer.
Transfer the curd to glass jars but leave it uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until it’s reached room temperature. Then cover with the lid and put in the refrigerator or freezer.
Lemon curd will keep in the fridge for up to a month, or it can be frozen and stored for up to a year. To thaw, remove from freezer and transfer to the fridge, allow to thaw 24 hours.
Lemon curd can also be processed in a hot water bath, for a shelf life of about 3 – 4 months.
Ways to Customize This Recipe
For a sweeter or less-sweet lemon curd, you adjust the amount of sugar.
For a thicker, richer lemon curd, add an extra egg yolk.
For a dairy-free lemon curd, you can leave the butter out entirely. A dairy-free curd will be really thick and have a matte finish rather than a velvety sheen. But it still tastes great!
Other fruits can also be used to make delicious curd – lemons can be replaced with either oranges or lime.
Other fruits, such as strawberries or raspberries can also be used, but we recommend using 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per egg used in the recipe.
One of the most important steps is to strain the mixture through the fine mesh sieve to get the velvety texture that makes a fruit curd so delicious!