Homemade Lemon Curd

Discover how easy it is to prepare your own homemade lemon curd! This creamy, silky-smooth, sweet condiment is bursting with fresh and zesty flavour and can be made with lots of different types of fruit. Use it as a topping for your pancakes, waffles, scones, or as a filling in your bakes and many, many more!

What makes lemon curd so good?

If you tried fruit curds before, then you will know how incredibly delicious and versatile this condiment is. Homemade lemon curd is probably the most popular one and there are good reasons behind it!

With its silky-smooth and creamy texture, sharp yet sweet and tangy taste and super fragrant aroma, curd can really brighten up any meal or bake. It's that sweet and sour combination that makes it impossible to resist!

For those of you who never had it before, think about it as a rich spread or dessert topping. If you like lemons, then I guarantee this recipe will quickly become one of your favourite uses for it.

Tips for making the curd

If you never cooked your own homemade curd before, you will be pleasantly surprised by how easy and simple it is. With this recipe, you won't need a kitchen thermometer, which lots of recipes out there call for. We are simply going to mix all of the ingredients in a heatproof bowl placed over the saucepan with gently simmering water (homemade version of double boiler).

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Here are few tips to make sure your succeed every time:

1. Use a large, glass or ceramic, heatproof bowl to cook your ingredients in- If you use the metal bowl, the eggs and the lemon will react with the metal, resulting in your curd having metallic aftertaste. Also, using a silicone whisk and spatula will be much better than using metal ones, for the exact same reason.
2. Make sure the bottom of your bowl doesn't touch the water in a saucepan- This is very important. Curd should never be cooked on direct heat and using home version of double boiler method is a perfect way to avoid that. So make sure there is a gap between the simmering water and your bowl on top.
3. Use freshly squeezed lemon juice- It only takes few moments to squeeze the juice out of lemons and it will make all the difference to the taste! You don't even need a juicer or any fancy equipment to do this. Simply roll a whole lemon on your work surface, then slice it in half crosswise. Set a strainer over a small bowl or a jug to catch any seeds, then, holding a lemon half over the strainer, simply stick a fork into the fruit and twist gently to extract the juice.

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4. Keep whisking the mixture once you've added the eggs to it. Continuous whisking will prevent the eggs from setting or curdling.

5. Test your curd with the back of a wooden spoon or a spatula- It's ready and done when the back of your spoon or spatula dipped in curd stays covered with it. Run your finger across the back of spatula, if it holds a trial in curd, it's ready. The curd will thicken as it cools down, so don't panic if it is a little bit on a runny side.

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What other fruit and citrus can I use

Citrus is great for curds, because it balances out the sweetness really well. If you would like to branch out to some other flavours, most of the citrus will work really well.

Oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, nectarines, grapefruits and limes will be perfect variations. Yuzu, bergamots, passion fruit or cranberries will also do a great job.

This great article from Epicurious lists few other delicious variants of homemade curds you may want to try.

What can I use the curd in?

There are soo many different uses for this wonderful condiment. Here are few suggestions to get you started:

• as a topping on pancakes or crepes
• filling for tarts, pies, cakes and cupcakes
• topping for pavlova or meringue
• as a filling or spread on cookies and biscuits
• stir it into some yogurt, cheesecake or ice cream

Quick troubleshooting

Here are two of the most common problems you may come across, when making this recipe:

My curd is too runny- If this happens, simply cook it for longer. I made few fair batches of homemade curds in my life, and some may take as little as 10 minutes to be ready, while others will require almost twice as long.

If it still won't thicken up, you may want to add a little bit more butter to your mixture (start by adding 20g- 30g). You can also thicken it by adding an extra egg yolk.

My curd is too thick- It's worth mentioning again that curd always thickens up more as it cools down. If you find yours has become too thick for your liking, try adding more lemon juice to the mixture. Start with adding small amount, only about ½tsp - 1 teaspoon at a time, until you have reached the desired consistency.

Split or lumpy curd- This can happen for few reasons. If you cook your curd over a too high heat or cook it for too long or don't stir it enough, it may become lumpy with bits of cooked egg white in it. The easiest way to fix this is to pop it into a blender and blitz it until it becomes smooth (stick blender will work too).

You can also eliminate any small lumps by straining your curd through a fine mesh sieve.

How to store fruit curd

Cooked and cooled curd should be transferred into sterilized jars with seals. Store it in the fridge at all times. Unopened, sealed jars will last for up to 6 months. Once opened, use it within a couple of weeks.

You can also freeze the curds. Pour the cooled curd into a freezer-friendly container with a lid, and freeze it for up to 6 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge before using it.

📖 Recipe