Fresh, creamy, citrusy, Summery lemon curd! Put some on your tongue and experience a delightfully sweet zing! I first fell in love with lemon curd when I when lived in England. I lived near Cambridge for six years and enjoyed lemon curd on a regular basis. It’s practically a staple in Great Britain! Lemon curd has accompanied traditional British tea since the 18th century, enjoyed as a spread for scones and toast.
Good lemon curd is hard to find. Either the texture isn’t right or the flavor is off. What I often find in many homemade versions is that it just tastes too “eggy.” Here is a foolproof, kitchen-ready lemon curd recipe that is easy to follow with positively perfect results. This lemon curd is fairly thick, which makes it ideal for spreading (without it dripping off whatever you’re eating) as well for filling, say, cupcakes. Enjoy this lemon curd as a spread on bread, muffins, scones and cookies, or use it in baking to add flavor and moisture.
However you decide to use it, you won’t be able to keep your fingers out of the lemon curd jar!
Lemon curd is made with egg yolks, but don’t throw away those egg whites! Use them to make some luscious Mint Chocolate Meringues!
Okay, let’s get lemon curding!
First, a couple of taste troubleshooting tips:
1) Be careful to remove as much of the egg whites as possible when separating the eggs. It is the egg white that has the sulphuric, “eggy” flavor.
2) Use a glass or stainless steel mixing bowl and a stainless steel pot for preparing the lemon curd. The high acidity content of the lemon can cause the metal to leach into the lemon curd resulting in a “metallic” flavor. Do not store the lemon curd in anything containing metal.
Lemons. Fresh, juicy, citrusy lemons. Who doesn’t love lemons? (Prefer limes? Make this with limes!)
Zest 3 medium or two large lemons.
Juice the lemons.
Add the sugar and lemon zest to a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until the zest is finely ground up in the sugar.
Place the butter and lemon sugar in a bowl and cream it for several minutes until fluffy. Use a glass mixing bowl, not metal. Use a stainless steel pan to cook the lemon curd. The high acidity content can otherwise leach some of the metal into the mixture resulting in a “metallic” taste.
Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until combined.
Add the fresh lemon juice and salt and beat until combined.
Place the mixture in a stainless steel pot over low heat and stir continuously until the mixture has thickened and has reached 170 F. Use a candy thermometer to check. This will take about 20 minutes. Be patient and do not try to heat it too quickly or else the eggs will scramble.
Allow the lemon curd to cool and then refrigerate. It will keep for a week in the fridge and can then be frozen for up to two months.
Creamy Lemon Curd
Ingredients
- 3 lemons
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , room temperature
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Zest the lemons. Be careful to avoid the white pith as it is very bitter.
- Add the sugar and lemon zest to a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until the zest is finely ground up with the sugar.
- In a medium glass or stainless steel mixing bowl, cream the butter and lemon sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add the lemon juice and salt and beat until combined.
- Pour the mixture into a medium stainless steel saucepan and cook over low heat stirring continuously until thickened and the temperature has reached 170 F, about 20 minutes. Check the temperature using a candy thermometer.
- Remove from the heat, cool, and refrigerate. It will keep in the fridge for a week and can then be frozen for up to 2 months.
- Makes about 2 cups.
Nimmy says
Hi, I read somewhere that lemon curd was used as a topping for cupcakes, does this remain stable in room temp?(right now it 37°C here in Kerala, India) and it will be sitting out in a hall with no AC..
Lee Fox says
Fantastic recipe, can this be made with lime, grapefruit and or blood orange? How much can you cut the sugar back without it affecting the consistency?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Lee, thank you! I haven’t tried this with other citrus but I think it should be perfectly fine swapping the lemon out since this curd relies on eggs for thickening instead of pectin (which varies between types of citrus).
nicole brown says
Is the lemon curd supossed to smell eggy? I placed on top of my cheesecake and it has this faint eggy smell.
Anonymous says
I recently made this recipe, my first time making a curd, I reduced sugar to 1 cup and it turned out perfect. Couple of Qs for you, (1) can this same recipe be used for lime, grapefruit. blood orange curd? Secondly do you know if reducing the sugar will affect how it sets up?
Colleen says
Just made this, so good. I did however make a few tweaks. I had no fresh lemons and no zest but I did have packets of something called True Lemon so I used 5 packets of that with the sugar. Can’t have dairy so I used smart balance spread. Reduced the sugar to a cup and mixed a tablespoon of corn starch with some lemon juice. I doubled the recipe and used a dozen yolks because my angel food cake took a dozen egg whites. But making the lemon curd this way was so easy. Thank you for the great recipe. I love lemon curd but haven’t had it in so long because other recipes were just too involved
Paula Marentette says
I don’t understand why a glass bowl is needed for the first step when the mixture is transferred to a stainless steel saucepan to cook it. Can’t a stainless steel bowl be used for creaming the eggs and butter?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Paula, you’re correct, you can use a stainless steel bowl.
Angelea Iafornaro says
This is the 4th recipe I’ve tried and all others were ok but had a bit of egg aftertaste. This one doesn’t at all! So yummy. I am using in cake though so maybe next time I’ll reduce sugar slightly or increase lemon juice as it is very sweet.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Angelea, thank you!
Annette says
Hi Kimberly, was very excited to make your lemon curd recipe as it was a different technique. The taste was lovely but the texture was very thick and gloopy, like glue. What have I done wrong? I would like to try this recipe again but not without knowing where I went wrong please. Thankyou.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Annette, I’m not sure what went wrong but you may be able to reheat it and thin it down with a little more lemon juice.
Dalia says
Hi Kimberly, I just want to know if the measuring system is US or UK, as US system holds less quantity than UK’s(as I noticed using an online measurement converter) and I need everything converted to grams . Thank you, happy Christmas!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Dalia, it’s the US measuring system. I’ve been working on updating all of my previous recipes to a software program that automatically does the metric conversions for you. I sure hope it’s accurate, but so far have received no complaints :) I’ve just updated the lemon curd recipe – under the list of ingredients you can click on the blue “metric” and it will do the calculations for you. Happy Christmas and New Year to you, too! :)
Mandy says
Hello – this recipe looks lovely, but I do have one question. Why do you cream the butter and sugar together? Isn’t all that effort wasted when you melt the butter (along with everything else) on the stove?
Janis Long says
Amazing doesn’t begin to cover it 😎 I have bought lemon curd in a jar (disappointing) and have made it but was always unhappy with the flavour, color and consistency. This is definitely my go to recipe from now on. Thank you for sharing this recipe with all of us. Merry Christmas everyone ❤️
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Janis, I’m so glad to hear it! Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Anonymous says
Amazing intoxicating can’t stop eating it. What a gift. Thank you.
Shannon says
I made this today to use as a filling for a Victoria sponge and while it tasted great, it was runny. I really wanted what it looked like you had, where it’s thick and spreadable. I cooked it until it reached 170 and I re-read the recipe to make sure I followed the steps exactly. Any ideas?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Shannon, was it still runny after it had been chilled for a while in the fridge? You can try reheating it and adding a little cornstarch dissolved in a little water to thicken it.
Bee says
Best recipe! Super smooth and no-egg taste/smell.
Noting your explanations and readers’ comments, I did not use anything metallic – plastic knife to cut lemons, creamed by hand with wooden spoon and cooked in glass bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water.
I am making a few more batches tomorrow to use up the lemons I have been given.
Thank you for the recipe (I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup).
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad, Bee, thanks for the feedback!
Jude says
This is amazing. Made exactly 2 cups. I did all the first steps
in the food processor and then cooked it as directed. Perfect!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Jude, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!