Lemon Curd

Homemade lemon curd is one of the best tangy spreads you can make at home! With just 4 ingredients and a simple method, it’s also an easy recipe to make yourself. Perfect for topping crepes and cupcakes, or swirling through ice cream.

Curds are a traditional English staple and go far beyond lemon! Raspberry, strawberry, passion fruit – the list goes on, and curds can be made with any number of fruits. Lemon curd is a classic, though, and well deserving of a spot in your kitchen.

This is a simple recipe, but does require about 15 minutes of active time. You’ll be stirring at the stove for 10 minutes, so grab a stool or wear some comfy shoes!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Method
• Tips and Notes
• Substitutions
• Ways to Use Lemon Curd
• Recipe

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

Method

Add the sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a heat-safe bowl or double boiler. Whisk to combine.

• 

• 

Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water). Cook, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, the curd should be thickened. It’s ready when reduced by about half and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

• 

• 

Add the butter to the hot curd and whisk to melt and fully incorporate.

• 

• 

Pour your finished lemon curd into a glass jar and loosely cover. Set aside to cool to room temperature before sealing and refrigerating.

After refrigerating and cooling fully, the curd should be set and pudding-like in texture. It will keep up to a couple weeks in the refrigerator and can be frozen up to a month.

Tips and Notes

Egg whites can be frozen for later if you don’t want to use them right away. After separating the eggs, place the whites into an airtight container and freeze up to a month. Just remember how many are in the container!

A curd is not a fruit cheese, and should still be quite liquid when it’s done cooking. It’ll thicken as it cools. Think ice cream – it should coat the back of a spoon when it’s ready, but not be hard or difficult to stir.

Stirring constantly is key to making lemon curd. As with most egg-yolk thickened recipes, it will curdle or scramble if not stirred over low heat.

It is possible to make lemon curd without a stove top! Kelly has a great whole-egg microwave lemon curd recipe if you prefer a quicker method.

Substitutions

Use a good vegan butter for dairy-free lemon curd.

Any kind of granulated sugar can be used, since it dissolves when cooking. Regular white or raw cane are ideal.

If you want to use a liquid sweetener, try this honey lemon curd recipe.

Ways to Use Lemon Curd

• Spread on scones or soda bread
• Top white chocolate mousse for a tart kick
• Sandwich between almond flour biscuits
• As a filling for choux pastry
• Swirled through rhubarb clafoutis
• Topping sourdough pancakes or waffles
• Serve alongside financiers
• Top meringue nests (a great make-along recipe, to use up your egg whites!)
• Add as a surprise filling to sourdough blueberry muffins
• Serve with a Dutch baby

More Lemon Treats

Lemon Chess Pie
Lemon Lavender Sugar Cookies
Strawberry Lemonade Sangria
Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Raspberry Compote
No Churn Lemon Curd Ice Cream

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.