Homemade zingy and silky lemon curd brings sunshine to every single dessert. It can be used as a filling for your cake or as a condiment for your sweets. This lemon curd needs just five ingredients and will be complete in less than 20 minutes.
Lemon curd is a very British recipe that originated in the 1800s. It has a lot of history and soon became a real staple of English cuisine. It’s delicious, silky, buttery and smooth. If you haven’t tried it yet, now it’s the time to do it.
My love for lemons and everything lemony started six years ago when I tried the most amazing lemon tart in Paris. From that point onwards, I became obsessed with this ingredient. It’s perhaps no surprise that when I tried lemon curd for the first time, it too became an absolute staple of my kitchen.
You can use lemon curd in so many different ways – with scones, as a filling in your muffins or cake, drizzled on top of ice cream or served as a side with chocolate cake. I’m telling you, this is the most amazing and versatile spread you could ever find.
Ingredients for Homemade Lemon Curd
Homemade lemon curd requires just a handful of ingredients that can easily be found in your kitchen.
- Lemons – I really recommend using Italian unwaxed lemons, because they’ve still got a small amount of sweetness and they’re very aromatic. For the best lemon curd, you’ll need the best possible quality citrus – it’s that simple.
- Caster sugar – you can swap it for plain sugar or even for icing sugar. Just make sure it dissolves completely when you’re heating the mixture.
- Butter – use unsalted butter to give richness and smoothness to your homemade lemon curd.
- Egg – it helps thicken the curd.
- Cornstarch – this ingredient creates the desired thickness and a smooth consistency. You can add more or less depending on your liking.
How to Make Homemade Lemon Curd?
You’ll need just five ingredients and 20 minutes. That’s it. This is all you need for the best smooth and silky homemade lemon curd. To be honest, it’s so easy to make, that going to the shop and buying a jar of this yellow goodness would take more effort than actually making it from scratch.
Steps you need to take:
- Squeeze the lemon juice and zest two of the lemons.
- Add the sugar and butter, then heat the mixture.
- Pour this mixture into the eggs.
- Add the cornstarch.
- Heat the curd.
- Take it from the heat and pour the curd through a sieve.
- Serve.
If you’re looking for recipes using curd, try these desserts:
Lemon and Pistachio Cake with Lemon Curd
Chocolate Cookies with Orange Curd
Chocolate Orange Tart with Chocolate Ganache
Rich Chocolate Cake with Orange Cream and Chocolate Pudding
Recipe
Ingredients
Lemon Curd:
3 lemons
100g caster sugar
100g butter
3 eggs
30g cornstarch
Method
Prepare the lemon curd:
- Squeeze the juice from the lemons into a saucepan.
- Add the sugar and butter and heat the mixture until the butter melts.
- Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl.
- Take the juice mixture off the heat and very slowly, always whisking, pour this mixture into the eggs (this way you’ll avoid scrambled eggs).
- Pour the curd back into a saucepan and add the cornstarch.
- Heat the curd for 5-10 minutes always mixing it until it starts firming-up.
- Take it from the heat and pour the curd through a sieve to remove any lumps.
- Let it cool completely.
