How To Make Lemon Curd

Bright, citrusy, smooth, and refreshing - lemon curd is a staple to have on hand at all times. I love making a big batch and keeping it in my fridge for whenever I'm craving biscuits, scones, or a spoonful of goodness. 

Lemon curd is much easier to make than you might think. It is creamy and buttery, and only requires just a few ingredients you already have in your fridge. You just need a small saucepan, a bowl, spatula or whisk, a microplane or zester, and a fine mesh sieve. Easy peasy! No fancy tools needed.

You can use lemon curd for so many things. It is a great topping for cookies, muffins, or even making those wonderful thumbprint cookies. 

Ways to Use Lemon Curd: 

- A spread for scones, croissants, and biscuits

- Cupcake filling or slathering between cake layers

- A perfect filling for crepes

- Dollop on waffles, pancakes, or muffins

- Pipe into eclairs or cream puffs made with choux pastry

- Spread onto cinnamon or morning rolls before rolling and slicing 

- Enjoy alongside strawberry or blueberry shortcake

- Spoon over ice cream

- Dunk churros or cookies into this goodness

- Mix into yogurt or overnight oats

What is a curd?

Essentially, curd is a custard that is made with fruit juice instead of milk. It uses egg yolk and butter as thickeners. It is made very similarly to a pastry cream, but it is fruit juice based, rather than dairy based. It is used for a variety of things, like, Key Lime pie, lemon meringue pie, fillings for eclairs, in cakes and cupcakes, atop scones, and a million other delicious uses.

Ingredients You'll Need to Make Lemon Curd

- Granulated Sugar

- Egg Yolks

- Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

- Lemon zest

- Salt

- Butter, cold and cubed

Steps to Make Lemon Curd:

1. Bring lemon juice, zest, salt, and half of your sugar to a boil.

2. In a separate bowl, combine remaining sugar with egg yolks, whisking to combine.

3. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot juice mixture - tempering the two liquids together. 

4. Pour the egg, juice, sugar mixture back into the saucepan and slowly cook on low, whisking, until it begins to thicken. 

5. Do not overcook - otherwise you'll have scrambled eggs! Gross. Whisk until you see a bubble or two, remove from the heat.

6. Whisking vigorously, add the cold butter to stop the cooking process. Strain through a sieve into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the curd. Chill and Enjoy!

Looking for other citrus recipes?

- Love a good lemon curd, but want to change it up and make Lime Curd? Here's the recipe for you. It's bright, zippy, and versatile. 

- Biscotti will forever be a favorite baked good of mine, and these Blueberry Orange Biscotti with Pistachios that can be made gluten free or regular are so delicious with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, but are also tasty on their own. 

- If you're a fan of citrus flavors, this Sidecar Cocktail cake will be a huge win with you. It has lemon curd & orange liqueur, along with so many other delicious flavors. It's ridiculous and so good. The judges on Food Network's Halloween Wars died over how good it was. You've gotta try it.

- Speaking of the Sidecar... as a fan of citrus, you've gotta try this Sidecar Cocktail Recipe. It's delicious and pretty strong. This cocktail is a vintage, Prohibition cocktail, but it's delicious. Brandy, Grand Mariner (or orange liqueur), and lemon juice. It's bright, citrusy, and bold. So fun.

Made the recipe?
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