Homemade Lemon Curd (Printable)
Silky, tangy lemon curd with zest and butter—ready in 25 minutes; chill before serving.
# What You’ll Need:
→ Fruit & Citrus
01 - 3 large lemons, zest finely grated and juiced (about ½ cup juice)
→ Dairy
02 - ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
→ Eggs
03 - 3 large eggs
04 - 1 large egg yolk
→ Sugar
05 - 1 cup granulated sugar
# Directions:
01 - In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth and well blended.
02 - Fill a saucepan with about 1 inch of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Place the heatproof bowl over the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.
03 - Add the cubed butter to the bowl and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 to 15 minutes.
04 - Remove the bowl from heat and pour the curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, pressing through with a spatula to remove any solids.
05 - Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving for the best texture.
# Expert Suggestions:
01 -
- It tastes far more luxurious than the effort it takes, and anyone you serve it to will assume you spent hours perfecting it.
- The texture is silky and spreadable, worlds away from anything you can buy in a jar at the store.
02 -
- If the heat is too high or you stop whisking, the eggs will scramble and you will end up with sweet lemony scrambled eggs instead of curd.
- Straining is not optional if you want that perfectly smooth finish, even a tiny fleck of cooked egg changes the whole experience on your tongue.
03 -
- Use a heavy bottomed saucepan for your water bath because steady, gentle heat is the whole secret to avoiding scrambled eggs.
- Room temperature eggs blend more smoothly into the sugar and juice, so pull them out of the fridge thirty minutes before you start.