Description
You’ll be AMAZED by how easy it is to make lemon curd from scratch! The flavor is sunny, vibrant, and fresh–SO much better than store-bought!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest (pack the zest in a bit!)
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (120 ml)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup butter, cut into small cubes (4 Tablespoons/57 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Start The Double Boiler. Add 2-3 inches of water to a medium saucepan and bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. You’ll also need a heatproof bowl that can rest on top of the saucepan WITHOUT touching the simmering water below.
- Combine. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and cubed butter to the heatproof bowl and place over the saucepan of simmering water.
- Stir To Thicken. Stir continuously for 20-25 minutes, or until the lemon curd has thickened and reaches 170 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. It should easily coat the back of a spoon at this point. (Keep in mind: you want to stir the whole time to avoid getting any clumps or scrambled egg bits.)
- Strain the lemon curd through a fine mesh sieve into a glass bowl or jar to remove any lumps and stir in vanilla extract.
- Cover & Chill. Cover the lemon curd with a piece of plastic wrap or food wrap and press the plastic wrap onto the surface of the lemon curd. (This prevents a film/”skin” from forming on top.) Chill the lemon curd 3-4 hours or until completely chilled through. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Serve & Store. Enjoy after chilling and store in an airtight container or jar in the refrigerator up to 1 week or freeze up to 3 months. (Thaw frozen lemon curd in the fridge before using.)
Notes
- ONLY Fresh Lemon Juice. You do NOT want to use bottled lemon juice for this recipe. It ruins the flavor. You’ll need 4-6 lemons to get 1 cup of lemon juice.
- ZEST FIRST. For ease, zest the lemon before juicing it. Make sure to ONLY get the bright yellow zest, not the bitter white pith underneath.
- BUTTER. I like using salted butter so I don’t need to add salt later, but if you use unsalted butter, you’ll likely want to add a hefty pinch of salt to the curd as it cooks so the flavors are balanced.
- VARIATION. For a citrus twist, you can make this using Meyer lemons, which have a flavor between orange & lemon.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Condiment
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
