How to Make Lemon Curd (A Homemade Recipe)

5 from 2 votes

Learn how to make lemon curd with just 4 basic ingredients and get to taste the most deliciously tangy and sweet lemon sauce ever!

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: g

Calories: 5kcal

Zest the lemons. Cut and squeeze the juice. Strain the juice and set it aside.
In a food processor, blend the sugar and the lemon zest until fine. This is an optional step but it helps in making sure the lemon zest becomes really fine so that it does not appear obvious in the curd.
Add the sugar and lemon juice into a heatproof bowl and double boil until the sugar is melted.
While the sugar and lemon juice is double-boiled, beat the eggs lightly and add to the sugar-lemon juice mixture. Keep whisking to avoid the eggs from turning lumpy.
Add the butter and continue whisking until the mixture thickens. Use the back to of a spoon to test the lemon curd consistency. If the curd covers the back of the spoon, it is done and can be removed from heat.
Strain the curd in a sieve to remove any lumps.
Let the curd cool down. Cover the bowl with cling wrap, making sure the wrap touches the surface of the curd completely (to avoid a layer of skin forming on the surface of the curd as it cools).
Refrigerate until cold and keep it refrigerated until ready for use.

If using unsalted butter add ⅛ teaspoon salt.
When zesting and juicing the lemons, always zest first and then juice them. It is so much easier to zest the skin when the fruit is still full of juice and round.

When adding lemon zest to the curd, you have two options. The first option is to blend it together with sugar to form a fine powder so that you get a really smooth curd without any obvious lemon skin bits in it.

The other option is to skip the blending process and add the zest directly to the curd. With this option, you will get to feel the lemon skin in your curd. If you like it this way, then add the zest without processing it into a fine powder.

The curd need not be cooked until it is absolutely thick. Constantly check the consistency with the back of a spoon. If the curd covers the back of a spoon, it is ready and can be removed from heat. The curd will continue to thicken as it cools.