Homemade Tart Lemon Curd Recipe

Homemade lemon curd is a delicious topping with an amazing blend of sweet and tart. It is easy to make, takes only 15 minutes and is ideal for topping off your favorite dessert or just eating right out of the jar!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my disclosure policy.

Making homemade dessert sauces is quick, easy and fun! Homemade sauces taste better because of the simple fresh ingredients.

And it takes only a few minutes to make your favorite dessert topping. Whether it is caramel sauce, hot fudge sauce, blueberry sauce or this delicious, tart lemon curd recipe!

Why You Will Love Homemade Lemon Curd

• If you love lemon you will love the puckery, tart, citrus taste of this lemon curd.
• The sauce has enough sweetness to balance out the tart, making it the perfect blend of flavors.
• Store bought lemon curd is expensive – I checked last week and a small jar was almost $6 at my grocery store! The ingredients for this, on the other hand, were about $1.50.
• This smooth and creamy sauce makes desserts like cheesecake or pavlova even tastier.

Key Ingredients

This tart lemon curd recipe has only a few simple ingredients.

• Egg yolks – The egg yolks thicken the lemon curd and help give it a pretty yellow color.
• Lemons – It is worth the small amount of time it will take to juice lemons so you can use fresh lemon juice in this recipe. And since you need lemon zest too you have to buy lemons, so you might as well juice them.
• Sugar – The sugar adds sweetness to balance the tart lemons. My recipe uses less sugar than many other recipes because I like a tart lemon curd.
• Butter – The butter helps make the lemon curd creamy.

How to Make Lemon Curd

1. Juice and Zest the Lemons

Use a lemon zester to zest one of the lemons. You want about 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, which is about 1 lemon. It is easier to zest a lemon that hasn’t been juiced, so zest first.

Then juice lemons until you have 1/2 cup of juice. This will take anywhere from 2-4 lemons, depending on how large they are and how much juice they have.

2. Cook

In a small saucepan combine the egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice. Whisk them over low heat until the sugar dissolves, which should take 2-3 minutes.

Keep the heat on low and whisk the mixture as it cooks. Otherwise the egg yolk can start to scramble, which is not what you want for lemon curd.

Slice the butter into small pieces and add it to the sauce pan, along with the lemon zest. Continue to cook on low heat, stirring, until the mixture until the mixture is thick enough to coat the whisk.

At this point it will have a glossy finish and consistency of pudding. You can also use an instant read thermometer or candy thermometer to test the temperature, which will be 160 degrees F when it is done.

3. Strain and Cool

Take the lemon curd off the stove and strain it by pouring it through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Then let the bowl of lemon curd cool to room temperature.

Straining the lemon curd removes the bits of lemon zest and any bits of egg yolk that have scrambled during the cooking process. You don’t have to strain the lemon curd, but it will have a smoother texture if you do.

How to Store

Once the lemon curd has cooled to room temperature pour it into a jar or bowl. I like to put it in a mason jar or a weck jar.

Then put it in the refrigerator until ready to use. The homemade lemon curd will keep for about 3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Lemon Curd Uses

Lemon curd is a versatile dessert sauce. Here are some of my favorite ways to use it.

• Use as a filling in between cake layers or in cupcakes
• Top off cheesecake
• Fill thumbprint cookies
• Stir into plain yogurt
• Use as a dip for sugar cookies or graham crackers
• Top off pancakes or waffles
• Fill a pavlova

Or you can just eat it from the jar with a spoon! Lemon curd is a great dessert sauce to give as a homemade gift, especially if you are pairing it with jars other sauce like strawberry sauce or hot fudge.

Variations and Tips

• If you prefer a sweeter lemon curd then you can increase the sugar in the recipe to 1 cup.
• Whisk the sauce constantly and don’t be tempted to turn the heat up to make it thicken more quickly. It only takes 10 minutes to thicken and slow and steady whisking is key.
• Because this recipe requires consistent stirring get everything ready before you start heating it. You don’t want to be trying to zest a lemon or find a whisk while the lemon curd cooks.

FAQ