Today, I'm sharing how to make smooth and shiny lemon curd quickly in 10 minutes with 6 simple steps! No double boiler is needed for this recipe.
Enjoy homemade lemon curd in many ways, such as for cakes, cheesecakes, crepes, bread, macarons, and cupcakes.
🍋 What I love about this lemon curd:
- It is so quick to make with no hassle - Make it quick in 10 minutes!
- The consistency is just right - Use it for any dessert.
- The texture is so smooth and shiny.
- It's richer and tangier than store-bought lemon curd. - It tastes SO much better!
💬 Spread this curd on any of your desserts, and it'll quickly turn into amazing lemon desserts.
In this post, you'll learn essential baking tips such as:
- How to make lemon curd quickly without a water bath
- Tips for making smooth lemon curd
- How much butter to add - understanding the task
- How to enjoy the lemon curd in many ways
... and so much more!
Let's get started.
Jump to:
📌 What's In Lemon Curd?
The simple 4 Ingredients
We'll only need 4 affordable ingredients: eggs, sugar, lemon, and butter to make lemon curd.
You'll be surprised how expensive lemon curd can be if you purchase it at stores. And it'll taste much better, making it at home!
- Whole egg
- It helps to thicken the curd. Use a large egg instead of a small one to make it thicker.
- Egg yolk
- It adds amazing richness.
- Granulated sugar
- Sugar helps to make a smooth and shiny texture.
- Lemon zest
- It adds another layer of refreshing flavor.
- Lemon juice
- Use any lemon of your choice!
- Unsalted butter
- Butter helps to thicken the curd and make it taste milder. You can adjust the amount depending on what texture you are looking for.
📌 How To Make Lemon Curd
The 6 Steps:
- Add whole eggs and yolks to a small pot. Mix well.
- Add sugar and mix.
- Add lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix well.
- Heat it at low to medium-low heat while mixing constantly. Continue until it starts boiling everywhere in a pot.
- Mix faster after it starts thickening slightly to make a smooth curd.
- Add the cubed butter and mix until it's evenly incorporated. Strain it with a very fine sieve.
- Chill it in the fridge completely before use.
📝 More Tips With Images
Now, let me share detailed tips on each step, which are all crucial for making lemon curd.
*** I made a half batch of the recipe today. You'll get the double amount with one batch. I wanted to mention it so you won't feel confused looking at the images. I hope to make it again and update the images sometime soon! Follow the same steps for one batch or more. ***
Step 1: Mix whole eggs and yolks well.
Mix until the whole egg and yolk is evenly incorporated.
💬 I recommend a small stainless pot.
Step 2: Add sugar and mix.
Mix right after you add sugar. Sometimes, the sugar soaks up eggs and creates lumps when you leave them without mixing them.
Step 3: Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix well.
💬 Mix in lemon juice, dividing a few times so that they blend more easily.
Step 4: Heat it at low to medium-low heat while mixing constantly. Continue until it starts boiling.
Tips for cooking lemon curd
- Mix constantly and evenly so that the heat gets delivered equally.
- Mix faster after it thickens slightly to make a smooth curd, like pastry cream. The curd gets less smooth when you mix it slowly.
- Avoid cooking it with high heat to prevent the bottom of a pan from getting burned. Cooking it at lower heat also leads to a smoother curd.
- Use a small pot for one batch so the liquids don't evaporate too much as you heat.
- Continue heating until it starts boiling to cook through the egg.
Step 5: Strain it with a very fine sieve. Add butter and mix until it's melted completely.
💬 It's very important to strain it because you'll probably get tiny pieces of cooked egg white here and there, just like in the image above. Straining it makes a smoother lemon curd!
Use a fine sieve.
Use a very fine sieve to strain and remove all the pieces of cooked egg white. Mixing it with a hand blender helps greatly if you don't have it.
💡 Add butter while the lemon curd is still warm so that the butter melts completely!
How much butter should we add to lemon curd?
Adjust the amount as you like, depending on how thick or mild you want it to be:
The more butter you add, the thicker and milder the curd gets. It also tastes much tangier with less butter.
Pick from 4 - 8 tablespoon (1 US stick) for one batch, although you could add even more. For this post, I added 4 Tbsp.
I recommend adding more butter for desserts, such as a lemon meringue pie/tart, so the curd doesn't get too loose when you slice it.
Step 6: Chill it in the fridge completely before use.
It is ready to use once it cools down completely.
👩🏻🍳 The curd gets thicker after it's cooled, thanks to the butter inside.
📌 Uses For Lemon Curd
Enjoy the lemon curd for many occasions and desserts such as:
- Filling for whole cakes, cupcakes... use it for any cake you like!
- Macarons: Pipe buttercream and spread a thin layer of lemon curd. It tastes incredible!
- Gift it to someone special. Decorate the jar to make it festive!
- Pour it over yogurt and serve it as a little breakfast snack.
- Spread over bread, crepes, pancakes, and scones, and enjoy them with your favorite drink. Happy breakfast time is guaranteed!
- The topping for Pavlova and Cheesecake.
- Spread it over crackers as a quick snack for a home party.
What's your favorite way to enjoy it?
The Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Also, check out my favorite lemon buttercream frosting recipe made with this lemon curd. It is not grainy or overly sweet, stiff, and perfectly citrusy. It makes an amazing lemon dessert.
📌 Frequently Asked Questions
Store it in an air-tight container in the fridge. I recommend consuming it within a week to enjoy the fresh taste.
Yes, you can! The curd gets thicker, and the taste gets milder with more butter. You can adjust the amount depending on what kind of texture you are looking for and how tangy you like it to be.
Yes. It tastes less tangy with the pre-packed lemon juice, but you can still get a great result!
Yes, you can! Add herbs and flavor extracts as you like and make a customized lemon curd for your special occasion. Some of the popular flavors are vanilla and mint.
Yes! Store it for about 3 months in an air-tight container.
📌 Common Troubleshooting
The possible causes (and the solutions) are:
* The egg was not cooked enough. (Heat longer.)
* The egg was not blended well and cooked partially. (Mix eggs well before heating and cook the curd with lower heat while mixing constantly.)
You can add more butter at the end to make it thicker.
The possible causes (and the solutions) are:
* The curd was not mixed constantly as heated. (Mix constantly and evenly as you heat. Mix faster, especially after the curd starts thickening slightly.)
* The heat was a bit too strong. (Try heating it with lower heat next time.)
* The sieve was not fine enough. (Use a very fine sieve to discard all the pieces of cooked eggs. Or mix it with a hand blender at the end.)
* The egg was not blended well and cooked partially. (Mix eggs well before heating.)
📌 VIDEO: Watch It How To Make It!
To learn how to make it visually and have a deeper understanding of all, watch this video! The lemon curd tutorial is shared at the beginning of the video.
*** I made a half batch of the recipe in the video.
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📌 Printable Recipe
💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love hearing how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.
Simple Lemon Curd
Equipment
- Small pot
- Spatula
- Sieve
- Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 whole eggs Egg
- 2 yolks Egg yolk
- 3.4 oz Granulated sugar ½ US cup
- 1 lemon Lemon zest
- 4.2 oz Lemon juice 8 tablespoon or ½ US cup
- 4 - 8 tablespoon Unsalted butter 1 US stick: 8 Tbsp. * Add more butter to make it thicker and taste milder.
Instructions
- Add whole eggs and yolks to a small pot. And mix well.2 whole eggs Egg , 2 yolks Egg yolk
- Add sugar and mix well.3.4 oz Granulated sugar
- Add lemon zest and lemon juice. And mix well.1 lemon Lemon zest, 4.2 oz Lemon juice
- Heat it at low to medium-low heat over mixing constantly. Continue until it starts boiling.Mix faster after it starts thickening to make a smooth curd.
- Add the cubed butter and mix until it's evenly incorporated. Strain it with a very fine sieve.4 - 8 tablespoon Unsalted butter
- Chill it in the fridge completely before use.
Notes
How to store it:
Store it in an air-tight container in the fridge. I recommend consuming it within a week to enjoy the fresh taste. ** For best results, measure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are designed with weighed ingredients using grams/ounces. Cup measurements are provided for your convenience. **Nutrition
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💬 A Sprinkle Of Life
We recently celebrated Rei's birthday! She's 6 now🥹 I started Youtube when she was 1. You'll see how tiny she was in one of the oldest videos👼🏻
I made a raspberry mousse cake this year. It turned out delicious! Although it was much simpler than last year (I made a huge strawberry shortcake), the love was added just as much!😉 I'm sharing the tutorial next month. Stay tuned💕
Other lemony desserts:
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