Thick, creamy, tangy lemon curd spread – perfect on toast, in baking or on ice-cream…or just eaten off the spoon!
Some people love winter. They love being able to rug up, wear scarves, hats & boots and snuggle up in front of the fire. I am not one of those people. I can’t stand the dreary days of winter. I think it’s because our winter is so mild that it’s not really winter. It’s really just 4 months of cold, rainy, windy and just plain gross weather. We don’t even get snow! We are exactly 7 days into winter and I’m already hanging out for spring.
But you know what helps counteract the grey miserable-ness? Bright yellow lemon curd!
We have a magical lemon tree – seriously. I have never once gone out to grab a lemon and not found one. In over 2 years! It’s amazing. And currently it is chocka with bright yellow lemons. So with those and the eggs from our chickens, what else is there to do but make lemon curd? Sure you can just buy a jar at the supermarket, but for more than $4 a jar I’d much sooner make it at home, especially when it’s this easy!
So what exactly is lemon curd you ask? If you’ve never had it before you are missing out. It is a thick, creamy spread that is tangy, sweet and all sorts of delicious. It is made from the juice and rind of lemons, sugar to sweeten it and eggs to thicken it up almost like a custard. A lot of recipes use only the egg yolks, but I try to avoid recipes that only use either one or the other. I don’t know about you but I always forget I have egg whites in the fridge and end up throwing them out…such a waste! A little bit of butter melted in at the end makes it super creamy and rich.
Lemon curd is easy peasy to make but there are 2 important things to remember. 1) Whisk all the ingredients together really well before putting the pot on the heat and 2) stir it constantly once on the heat. It only takes 10 minutes, so it’s not too big a deal and following these two steps will make sure you don’t end up with a pot of scrambled eggs!
And what to do with this curd once you have it? Other than eating it straight off the spoon, it is perfect to use in baking, on pancakes, stirred into yoghurt, spread it on cookies, or even on toast.
But it’s especially good right off the spoon!
Does that little jar of yellow sunshine brighten your day or what?!
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 3 TBSP lemon zest
- 1 cup sugar
- 60 grams butter
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In a small pot whisk together eggs, lemon juice, zest and sugar. Cook over a low-medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes).
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Reduce the heat to low and add butter, stirring to combine. Cook for a further 2 minutes and then remove from heat.
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Allow to cool (the curd will thicken even more as it cools) and pour into jars.
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Store in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze.
Lucy @ Bake Play Smile says
June 14, 2015 at 9:26 pmOh this reminds me of my grandma! She would always make the yummiest lemon curd when we were little. I’ve actually got a few lemons on the tree at the moment, so I’ll have to try your recipe during the week! Thanks for linking up with our Fabulous Foodie Fridays party xx
Laura says
June 15, 2015 at 12:39 amThanks for having me again Lucy – it’s such a fab link up! I did try to comment on the post but for some reason it hasn’t shown up – thanks so much for the feature! Hope you had a great weekend =)
Lauren @ Create Bake Make says
June 12, 2015 at 11:07 pmI could eat this straight from the jar! It looks so delicious! Thank you for linking up with us for Fabulous Foodie Fridays, I hope you have a great weekend 🙂
Laura says
June 13, 2015 at 10:20 amThanks Lauren, I am totally guilty of eating this stuff right out of the jar! So happy to have found Fabulous Foodie Fridays! Hope you have a great weekend too 🙂
Diane Brown says
June 10, 2015 at 8:31 pmLemon curd is excellent added to whipped cream for a pavlova, then topped with strawberries, kiwi fruit or whatever fruit you fancy
Laura says
June 10, 2015 at 9:53 pmDiane that sounds delicious! Now to master the pav! 🙂
Team J says
June 9, 2015 at 12:49 pmWe’ve always wanted to grow a lemon tree but unfortunately, the weather here in Toronto isn’t warm enough to sustain it I don’t think 🙁
Love the lemon recipes! Will likely make some Lemon Meringue pie using this thanks!
Laura says
June 9, 2015 at 7:07 pmOhh that’s a shame, lemon trees come in pretty handy! On the plus side this recipe only uses about 3 lemons so easy enough to just buy those! Lemon meringue pie is one of my favourites…good choice!
Dawn says
June 9, 2015 at 10:42 amMy mouth is watering just looking at those photos – that looks so good. I am definitely going to give this a try. x
Laura says
June 9, 2015 at 7:06 pmThanks Dawn! It is seriously tasty! 🙂 Plus I love that it’s yellow!
Sarah says
June 9, 2015 at 9:35 amOoh, I just made lemon curd for the first time at the weekend! Going to share my version of this recipe, soon 🙂 Very jealous of your magic lemon tree, though – not something that tends to grow in Scotland 😉
Laura says
June 10, 2015 at 4:42 amOhhhh my gosh I love Scotland!! But yea, probably wouldn’t get a great lemon tree happening! I will keep an eye out for your version – any lemon curd is good!! 🙂
Jenny says
June 7, 2015 at 7:15 pmMy lemon tree actually made it through the spring. What do you fertilize yours with and do you have any tips for your magical lemon tree? I want mine to be magical too!
Laura says
June 7, 2015 at 10:29 pmJenny, I wish I could help but we don’t actually do anything to ours! It’s a Meyer Lemon so I think they might be quite hardy anyway but other than the odd pile of grass clippings and a prune every once in a while it’s kind of left to fend for itself!