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Home » Recipes » Frostings & Fillings

The perfect lemon curd (4 ingredients only)

Published: Jun 26, 2020 · Modified: Oct 7, 2021 by Kata · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads

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This is the perfect lemon curd recipe you can easily make from scratch and I am pretty sure you will never buy store bought again!

When I started my baker journey a few years ago, lemon was the first flavour I received a lot of compliments on from others. I just love everything about lemon desserts whether it´s lemon pie, macaron, pound cake, choux or even ice cream. Having said that, store bought lemon curd and lemon desserts sometimes lack that special kick what you will get making it at home. This home made lemon curd recipe the smoothest, most delicious goodness in the world.

This lemon curd tastes thousand times better than store bought and it comes together in 10 minutes using 4 ingredients only. So why would you buy it from the store? This lemon curd recipe is

Creamy

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Tangy

Buttery

Aromatic

It´s a dream!

You can use it like a jam, e.g. on toast, cupcakes, pancakes, scone or use as a filling in cakes, tarts, pies.

The perfect lemon curd

First let’s start with some important notes regarding the ingredients of this home made lemon curd recipe

  • read the recipe carefully
  • avoid using substitutes unless aware of how to fully reformulate the recipe in order to keep the balance in texture as well as flavours
  • measure your ingredients with the help of a Digital scale
  1. Lemon: Using lemon and lemon zest makes the desserts wonderfully flavourful and aromatic. Make sure you use fresh, organic lemon (or one which has no chemicals on the skin) and only grate the yellow part of the skin, not the white. First take the zest off then simply squeeze the juice out. The recipe is given in grams as the amount of juice that comes out of a lemon can greatly vary!
  2. Granulated sugar: Use normal white granulated sugar, nothing fancy or expensive. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my article in here. In this lemon curd recipe the curd will be tangy and not overly sweet, which is my preference for lemon desserts. Feel free to adjust the quantity of the sugar for your taste
  3. Egg: Room temperature as always and use only the yolk, which will thicken the curd. If you wonder what to do with the leftover egg white, why not try my pavlova recipe or perhaps my Angel food cake recipe? Some other recipes out there use whole egg, I prefer using yolk only for a few reasons: 1. Colour 2. Texture 3. Easier to cook and less likely to end up like scrambled egg
  4. Butter: Use always unsalted as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using 82% fat content butter in all my recipes. In this recipe butter needs to be at room temperature so avoid last minute microwaving. The butter makes the lemon curd incredible rich and creamy. The 100 g I state in the recipe is really at the edge to make super creamy, buttery lemon curd which is my favourite however you can try the recipe with 75g butter only and see which consistency you prefer. Both will provide a thick curd
The perfect lemon curd
This is double batch and makes a lot of curd

Let’s continue with my top 5 tips to make lemon curd recipe from scratch

1. Why need double boiler to cook lemon curd

Double boiler is a common method for melting chocolate without burning it and also for cooking lemon curd without ending up with scrambled egg. I made curd a few times directly on the stove but it is much safer to use a double boiler and I recommend to start with that than perhaps move into cooking directly on the stove once more comfortable.

For the double boiler all you need is a saucepan and a glass bowl that rests on the rim. You might have to play around with combinations of pans and bowls to find the perfect fit but it works perfectly fine. While cooking the curd, the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Easy peasy!

The perfect lemon curd
double boiler

2. How to make lemon curd from scratch?

Making home made lemon curd is so easy and so quick, you will never ever need to worry about buying it from store!

  • Place lemon juice, egg yolk and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (double boiler) and cook the curd over medium-high heat whisking constantly. Whisking is important to avoid egg yolks from curdling
  • After about 8-10 minutes the mixture starts to thicken like custard. I find the temperature at this stage is around 80C/176C
  • Remove curd from the heat and to be on the safe side, pour the cooked curd through a sieve so you will get rid of any potential egg bits in there
  • With a rubber spatula mix in room temperature butter in small cubes one by one, makes sure each cube is fully incorporated before adding the next. If you have a blender, blend butter into curd, if not, make sure you fully incorporate it with your spatula
  • Fold the zest in. Make sure you won´t leave the zest out, it will give so much flavour!
  • Pour curd into a jar and place plastic wrap directly on top so it is touching the top of the curd. (This prevents skin forming on top.) The curd will continue to thicken as it cools in the fridge
  • Store in fridge for a week although it will be gone much quicker
The perfect lemon curd
Curd after slightly thickened before adding butter and zest in
The perfect lemon curd
Add in butter then fully incorporate with a spatula or blender
The perfect lemon curd
Add in zest

3. How long does it take to make lemon curd?

The whole cooking process is literally not more than 10 minutes however the curd and the butter in it needs to set in the fridge for a few hours minimum or ideally overnight. Please be patient, it´s worth it!

The perfect lemon curd

4. What is the consistency of the lemon curd?

The recipe below provides an ideal consistency to fill a lemon tart, lemon pie, cupcakes, cakes or spread on toast, scone, pancake. On the other hand, if you want to use it for e.g. macaron filling, you will need a slightly firmer and more stable consistency. In that case, I recommend to add 1 sheet of gelatin into the warm curd (soak gelatin into cold water first).

The perfect lemon curd
consistency before setting in the fridge, it will thicken

4. Variations of lemon curd

Good thing about home made lemon curd that you can experiment with adding other citrus or fresh herbs. Try replacing some of the lemon juice with lime, orange or even passion fruit juice and see how that tastes! Or, feel free to play around with herbs eg. mint, thyme or basil all go very well with lemon curd.

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Now let´s see the recipe of this delicious, home made lemon curd!

The perfect lemon curd

The perfect lemon curd (4 ingredients only)

Creamy, tangy, buttery, aromatic lemon curd 10 minutes recipe
5 from 12 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Waiting Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 244kcal
Author: Kata

Equipment

  • Digital scale
  • Rubber spatula
  • Hand whisk

Ingredients

  • 100 ml Lemon juice Freshly squeezed. Approx 2-3 lemons, measure with a digital scale as it can greatly vary
  • 3 Egg yolks
  • 140 g Granulated sugar
  • 3 Lemon zest
  • 100 g Unsalted butter Room temp. You can try to make it with 75g and see which consistency you prefer
Metric - US Customary

US customary cup measurement is an indicative figure only. Measure the ingredients with a digital scale by weight (gram). Baking is art but also science which requires precision and accuracy.

Instructions

  • Place lemon juice, egg yolk and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (double boiler) and cook the curd over medium-high heat whisking constantly. Whisking is important to avoid egg yolks from curdling
  • After about 8-10 minutes the mixture starts to thicken like custard (mixture will reach around 80C /176F)
  • Remove from heat, pour the cooked curd through a sieve
  • With a rubber spatula mix in room temperature butter in small cubes one by one, makes sure each cube is fully incorporated before adding the next. Hand blend
  • Fold the zest
  • Pour curd into a jar and place plastic wrap directly on top so it is touching the top of the curd. (This prevents skin forming on top.) The curd will continue to thicken as it cools in the fridge
  • Store in fridge for a week although it will be gone much quicker

Nutrition

Calories: 244kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 133mg | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 546IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @spatuladesserts or tag #spatuladesserts would love to see your creation on Instagram!
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marianna Dickey

    June 19, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    5 stars
    Most excellent 👌

    Reply
  2. Alexandra Kusper

    February 10, 2021 at 7:45 pm

    5 stars
    Very easy and delicious recipe!

    Reply
  3. Karina

    September 24, 2020 at 9:57 am

    5 stars
    The lemoncurd is delicious, however, make sure to add the butter one cube at a time and only after the prior one is fully incorporated. I was impatient (I know, a deadly sin for a baker) and my lemoncurd separated. But thanks to Katalins suggestion to let it solidify in the fridge and then mix it again I was able to rescue the outcome and enjoy it as a topping on a lemon-ricotta-cheesecake

    Reply
    • admin

      September 26, 2020 at 4:57 pm

      Thanks for your feedback and I am happy you managed to save that batch 🙂

      Reply
  4. Lenka Cardozo

    September 22, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    5 stars
    I did it, it' a perfect recipe

    Reply
    • admin

      September 23, 2020 at 10:23 am

      thanks so much yes indeed :)!

      Reply
  5. Lauren Ion

    September 06, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    5 stars
    Really Great Recipe and easy to make!!! Thank you Katalin. Need to make myself another batch as the first round disappeared so quickly it was so delicious!!! Can't wait to try out more of your recipes

    Reply
    • admin

      September 08, 2020 at 12:24 pm

      Thanks so much for your feedback, I am glad you liked my lemon curd! Your feedback is more than welcomed if you try some of my other recipes too 🙂

      Reply
  6. Tati

    August 13, 2020 at 2:22 pm

    5 stars
    I continue to come back to this recipe. I love it. Easy to make and so versatile. I use it for fillings or as topping of literally anything . Love it.

    Reply
  7. Sally

    July 31, 2020 at 11:17 am

    5 stars
    Definitely the perfect lemon curd. I have tried a lot of recipes and this is by far the best especially if you are looking for one to use as a filling for cakes. It sets well and tastes great. Will be my 'go to' from now on.

    Reply
    • admin

      August 09, 2020 at 2:47 pm

      Thanks so much for your kind feedback, I so much love this lemon curd, happy to hear that I am not alone 🙂

      Reply
  8. Cintia

    June 27, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    5 stars
    An impeccable recipe, enjoy making it quickly and with simple ingredients. The consistency is perfect and intense flavor . I have used this recipe to make the filling of my Lemon Drip cake 👌🏻

    Reply
    • admin

      June 27, 2020 at 8:59 pm

      Thanks a lot! Your lemon drip cake looks amazing and I am so happy my lemon curd recipe ended up in it 🙂

      Reply

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