Here’s a complete guide on how to make lemon. A fail-proof recipe for best bright, creamy, tart lemon curd. You’ll be surprised to learn how easy it is to make homemade lemon curd that uses only 5 basic pantry ingredients!
¾cupgranulated sugaradjust quantity as per taste preference
½cupchilled butter
â…›teaspoonsalt
2teaspoonfresh 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
Use egg yolks instead of whole eggs for richer, brighter lemon curd! Use egg whites for another recipe like egg white scramble or egg drop soup. You can freeze egg whites for later use too.
Use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice are far more acidic and will ruin the flavor and taste of the curd.
The best time to add butter is while the curd is coming together. Adding butter while the pan is still on stove results in smooth and velvety creamy curd. I promise you won’t have any grainy texture.
Low and slow is the key to creamy lemon curd. Don’t get tempted to increase the heat, eggs will turn into scramble. If you are having trouble with the temperature, it’s the stove. Use double boiler to make lemon curd. It will take longer time to cook, but will result in silky smooth curd.
Don’t stop whisking. The entire time lemon curd is cooking on stove, keep whisking.
Lemon curd is ready when it thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Always strain your curd using fine mesh strainer. This will filter out zest bits of lemon and any scrambled eggs bits and give you perfectly smooth curd.
Nutritional Info – Please keep in mind that nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.