Lemon Curd is Surprisingly Easy to Make!
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The funny thing about anything served at a fancy afternoon tea is you assume it’s complicated and cumbersome. For example, lemon curd is merely 4 ingredients whisked together over heat. However, when faced with that delicate curd in a beautiful little jar and the teeniest spoon, you’d assume it’s finicky to make.
Truthfully, it’s satisfyingly easy. I only have one or two helpful tips to make sure you’re successful. The rest is actually fairly forgiving. So, let’s get started.
Properly Zesting a Lemon
The first and most important tip I can give you is to properly zest your lemons. I make that sound hard, but it’s really quite simple. Your lemon goes on bottom, and the zester on top with the bottom facing you. As you zest, you’ll see the product collecting on the top. This positioning allows you to see how deeply you’re scraping into the fruit.
The second tip is to drop your collected zest directly into your sugar. Citrus zest is flavorful because it is rich is oils. This is also why too much can make something taste perfumey. When you collect it in a bowl, you lose some of the oil there. However, if you collect it in the same bowl as sugar, the sugar soaks it up.
The Simplest Process
So, to simplify everything, you’ll use your saucepan as your mixing bowl. Measure your sugar right into the pan. To that, add your zest directly, and follow that with the juice of your two lemons. Crack in the eggs before whisking it up and adding heat.
As you whisk, you’ll add in the butter. It will melt and emulsify into the curd. After about 6 minutes, the curd will thicken. If you tilt your saucepan toward you and run the whisk through it, it should leave a trail.
Proper Temperature for Your Ingredients
The best temperature for the butter, lemons, and eggs in lemon curd is room temperature. Let them warm up on the counter for at least an hour before you start.
However, this is a very forgiving recipe. If you start with cold ingredients, the only consequence is that you have to stir a little longer. I’d recommend cubing your butter, if it is cold, and adding the bulk of it toward the beginning.
Some recipes show that you can add everything, including the butter, at the beginning and just whisk. It’s not going to hurt anything to try. As fancy as this condiment may seem, you can’t really mess it up whether you use cold or room temperature ingredients, or if you add the butter a little at a time or all at once in the beginning.
My recommendation is adding the butter a little at a time and using room temperature ingredients.
Storing Your Curd
When you’ve finished, pour the warm curd into a heatproof bowl, and press cling film down onto the surface. Place it in the fridge to chill before using as a cake filling or scone topping. As it chills, it will thicken up even further to a jammier consistency.
You can keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks. Keep the cling film pressed into the top of the curd for storage to prevent a skin from forming. This will keep it for longer.
If you want to freeze it, I recommend placing it in a sealed bag with all the air sucked out of it. It will keep in the freezer for 1 year. To thaw, place the bag in the fridge for 24 hours. Once you’ve thawed it, it cannot be refrozen and you’ll need to use it within a week or two.
Using Lemon Curd in Recipes
There are a few recipes that call for a little bit of lemon curd, and not just in scones!
For starters, it’s the star topping on my lemon poppyseed cheesecake. It brightens the flavor and gives, what could be a heavy dessert, lift and freshness.
If you are feeling a little more adventurous, try filling my vanilla bean macaron shells with a dollop of curd instead of buttercream.
And if you want to try something a little different for breakfast, try my flaky layered biscuits in place of a classic scone.
Tools You’ll Need to Make Lemon Curd
This recipe is very simple, and you’ll only need a couple tools for perfect lemon curd.
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Lemon Curd
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Zester
- Lemon juicer
- Whisk
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 large lemons room temperature
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
Instructions
- Pour your sugar into the saucepan.
- Zest the lemons directly into the sugar to avoid losing flavorful oils.
- Juice the lemons into the sugar and zest.
- Whisk in the eggs, and then turn the heat on to medium-low.
- Continue whisking as you add in pats of butter until you've added the full ¼ cup.
- Whisk for about 6 minutes until the curd thickens. You could be able to coat the back of a spoon and draw a finger through it.
- Pour the curd into a heatproof vessel, and press cling film down onto the surface. Refrigerate to chill before use.
- Store in the fridge for up to a week.
