Sweet and tart, lemon curd is a dessert staple that perfectly lends itself to a whole range of recipes. See notes below for flavour variations, and desserts to make with your homemade lemon curd.
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Ingredients
Method
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl until combined; transfer to small saucepan with remaining ingredients. Cook, stirring, over low heat, about 8 minutes or until mixture thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat immediately; stir for 30 seconds.
Pour hot curd into hot sterilised jars; seal immediately. Label and date jars when cold.
Lemon curd recipe tips
Cooking over low heat
It is important to cook the curd over a low heat to prevent curdling. If you’re making curd for the first time, stir the ingredients, in a medium glass or china heatproof bowl, over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water in the pan.
Buying lemons for curd
You will need about 4 lemons for this recipe.
Storing lemon curd
Lemon curd will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.
For a smooth lemon curd
If you prefer a completely smooth curd, you can strain the mixture (to remove the tiny pieces of lemon rind) through a fine sieve before pouring into jars.
What to do with leftover egg whites
Freeze the egg whites and use them later in friands, omelettes or in a pavlova.
Lemon curd bakes
Head to our collection of lemon curd desserts where you can find cheesecakes, souffles, cookies, pastries and tarts that all make the most of this delicious treat.
Curd flavour variations
You can make this curd recipe with almost any citrus fruit; simply replace the lemon rind and juice with the same amount of rind and juice of whatever citrus fruit you like - lime, orange, blood orange, mandarin, grapefruit and tangelo would all work well. If your oranges are very sweet, you might want to reduce the sugar to ¾ cup.
Preserving lemons at home (video)
