How To Make Lemon Curd

Here’s a complete guide on how to make lemon curd that is bright, lusciously creamy, deliciously tart, and sweet. You’ll need only 5 ingredients to make it.

When life gives you lemons….you make strawberry lemonade, lemon pudding, lemon brownies, and many other desserts! When you can make the best homemade lemon curd using just 5 basic ingredients, I guarantee you won’t go for store-bought ones again.

It’s a great addition to cupcakes, cakes, pies, or tarts, spread on scones or cookies, drizzle on pancakes and crepes, ice cream, or swirl into yogurt.

Ingredients

1. Use egg yolks for thicker, richer, creamier curd! Egg whites won’t be wasted, use to make egg white scramble.
2. For best taste use fresh ripe lemons. Don’t skip grating lemon zest before squeezing the juice out, zest adds bright zingy flavor to the curd. Pro-Tip: While zesting lemon, avoid the white part called the pith. It will make the curd taste bitter. Grate only the yellow lemon skin avoiding the white pith.
3. White granulated sugar gives the best texture to lemon curd. You can increase or reduce the amount of sugar depending on your sweet preference.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Add egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest, and salt to a saucepan. Cook on the lowest heat on the stove with constant stirring.
2. Cooking low and slow is the key to making lemon curd and don’t stop stirring. Pro-tip: You shouldn’t see any bubbles while cooking lemon curd. Reduce heat to the lowest! If you are having trouble with the temperature, it’s the stove. Better use a double boiler to make lemon curd. It will take a longer time to cook but will result in silky smooth curd.
3. While the curd is coming together add chilled(cubed) butter.
4. Continue to stir and cook on low flame. Use a cooking thermometer to check the temperature of the curd. When curd reaches 167°F, eggs are fully cooked and it’s safe to eat.
5. Alternatively to check for the doneness of curd is to check when curd thickens if it is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon. This indicates the doneness of curd.
6. Remove the curd from the heat. Pour thickened lemon curd into a fine-mesh strainer.
7. Using a spoon, press through to strain and remove the zest and any scrambled bits of eggs from the curd.
8. Strain into a heatproof bowl or jar.
9. Keep lemon curd covered with plastic cling wrap to avoid skin formation on top of the curd. Allow the curd to cool for 30 to 45 minutes before you can use it in any recipe or simply transfer it to serving jars to be refrigerated for later use.

Serving suggestions

I eat it with a spoon, it’s ridiculously delicious and addictive!
It’s a great addition to cupcakes, cakes, pies, or tarts, spread on scones or cookies. Use as filling for cupcakes or cakes, make incredible cheesecake tarts or pies with lemon curd as a layer, spread or drizzle on pancakes, crepes, and ice cream, or swirl into Greek yogurt.

Tips

1. Use egg yolks for richer, thicker, and creamier curd! Use egg whites to make egg white scramble or egg drop soup. You can also freeze egg whites for later use.
2. The best time to add butter is while the curd is coming together, it results in creamy and velvety curd. I promise you won’t have any grainy texture.
3. Low and slow is the key. Don’t get tempted to increase the heat, eggs will turn into a scramble. Use a double boiler in case the stove doesn’t have low heat settings. It will take a bit longer to cook but will result in a silky smooth curd.
4. Don’t stop whisking.
5. The curd is ready when it thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
6. Always strain the curd using a fine mesh strainer. This will filter out the zest of lemon and any scrambled egg bits and give you perfectly smooth curd.

Storage

Proper storing of lemon curd is important. Allow lemon curd to cool completely before storing. It can be stored for up to four weeks in a glass jar sealed with a tight lid in the refrigerator.
To freeze-

Transfer cooled curd into freezer container leaving a ¼ inch gap on top. Cover tightly with a lid and store in a freezer. The frozen lemon curd will stay for 1 year.
To use frozen curd, thaw for 24 hours in the refrigerator before use.

Recipe FAQs

5 from 1 vote

📋How To Make Lemon Curd

Jyothi Rajesh

Here’s a complete guide on how to make lemon curd that is bright, lusciously creamy, deliciously tart, and sweet. You'll need only 5 ingredients to make it.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Chill Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 10 oz jar

Calories 177

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 6 egg yolks
• ▢ ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar adjust quantity as per taste preference
• ▢ ½ cup chilled butter
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

Instructions

 

• Add egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest, and salt to a sauce pan. Cook on lowest heat on stove with constant stirring. Cooking low and slow is the key to making lemon curd and don’t stop stirring.

  Pro-tip: You shouldn’t see any bubbles while cooking lemon curd. Reduce heat to lowest! If you are having trouble with the temperature, it’s the stove. Better use double boiler to make lemon curd. It will take longer time to cook, but will result in silky smooth curd.
• While the curd in coming together add chilled(cubed) butter. Continue to stir and cook on low flame. Use cooking thermometer to check the temperature of the curd. When curd reaches 167°F, eggs are fully cooked and it’s safe to eat.
• Alternatively to check for the doneness of curd is to check when curd thickens if it is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon. This indicates the doneness of curd.
• Remove sauce pan from stove.
• Pour thickened lemon curd into a fine mesh strainer to strain and remove the zest and any scrambled bits of eggs from the curd. Strain into a heat proof bowl or jar.
• Keep lemon curd covered with plastic cling wrap to avoid skin formation on top of the curd. Allow curd to cool for 30 to 45 minutes before you can use it in any recipe or simply transfer it to serving jars to be refrigerated for later use.

Video

Notes

1. Use egg yolks for richer, thicker, and creamier curd! Use egg whites to make egg white scramble or use it in Chinese egg drop soup. You can also freeze egg whites for later use.
2. The best time to add butter is while the curd is coming together, it results in creamy and velvety curd. I promise you won’t have any grainy texture.
3. Low and slow is the key. Don’t get tempted to increase the heat, eggs will turn into a scramble. Use a double boiler in case the stove doesn’t have low heat settings. It will take a bit longer to cook but will result in a silky smooth curd.
4. Don’t stop whisking.
5. The curd is ready when it thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
6. Always strain the curd using a fine mesh strainer. This will filter out the zest of lemon and any scrambled egg bits and give you perfectly smooth curd.

Nutritional Info – Please remember that the nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.

Nutrition

Calories: 177kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 117mgSodium: 142mgPotassium: 30mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 563IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg

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