Homemade Lemon Curd
This homemade lemon curd recipe is fast to make, easy to follow, and only requires 5 ingredients! It's the perfect summer "sauce" for both cakes and pastries.
- Prep time
- 3 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 12 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 4 large egg yolk
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup lemon juice ((about 3-4 lemons))
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest ((optional; about 1 lemon))
- 4 Tablespoon unsalted butter (, cubed and kept cold (or ½ stick))
Instructions
- 1
Fill a medium saucepan with 1 inch of water and bring it to a simmer over medium or medium high heat.
- 2
Meanwhile, in a glass bowl that fits comfortably over the medium saucepan without touching the water, add the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest. Whisk the mixture together until combined.
- 3
Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water and stir constantly with a rubber spatula until the lemon curd mixture thickens enough to coat the rubber spatula or the back of a spoon, about 7-10 minutes.
- 4
Once thickened, remove the bowl from heat and mount in the cold butter by stirring the butter into the curd until all pieces are melted and emulsified.*After the butter has been mounted, you can strain the lemon curd if the zest bothers you or if you want a smooth curd with any lemon zests. *
- 5
Transfer the lemon curd into a sterilized jar, airtight container, or bowl. If kept in a bowl, make sure to wrap with plastic wrap and to have the plastic wrap directly touching the surface of the curd.
- 6
Chill the lemon curd in the fridge until needed. When it's completely chilled, it will become much thicker.Enjoy the lemon curd on different pastries, as filling for cakes, for cookies, and more!