
One of the best ways to enjoy the pure, unadulterated flavour of juicy, ripe lemons is to whip up a batch of homemade lemon curd. Whether in a tart or cake, or simply spread on a slice of sourdough toast, lemon curd will add a touch of sun to your food.
A versatile spread, homemade lemon curd is surprisingly quick to make, taking around half an hour from start to finish. It may seem indulgent at first glance, but even the smallest quantities will add flavour to your food. This powerful characteristic therefore makes lemon curd a surprisingly frugal ingredient. Oh, and it lasts very well in the fridge too.
When zesting your lemons, make sure you remove only the zest and none of the pith. The pith it where all the bitterness of the lemon lies, something you certainly don’t want to include in your lemon curd.
The same goes for the layer of wax generally applied to lemons to preserve their shelf life. While the was is edible it’s not something I really recommend incorporating. Try to find unwaxed lemons, or simply remove it yourself by giving the fruit a good, hard rub.

Lemon Curd
Makes 2 Jam Jars
Ingredients:
-
4 unwaxed lemons, zest and juice
-
170g caster sugar
-
100g salted butter
-
4 eggs
Method:
-
Set a large heatproof bowl over a pan of gently boiling water. Tip in the zest, juice, sugar and butter.
-
Whisk together 3 of the eggs plus one egg yolk, setting the spare egg white aside for use in a meringue (or similar).
-
Add the eggs to the melted butter mixture and whisk until fully combined. Leave the curd to cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it generously coats the back of a spoon.
-
Remove the curd from the boiling pan and set aside to cool, stirring intermittently. Spoon the finished curd into sterilised jars. The curd will keep for at least a month.


Cost: Now is the season for jolly nice lemons and you should be able to pick the requisite number up for £1. Add in the cost of the eggs, sugar and butter and what you’ve got is two jars of lemon curd for £2.50.
36 replies on “Lemon Curd”
I LOVE lemon curd. So so much!
Doesn’t everyone?! 😀
Oh, Frugal Feeder, why do you entice me so, with a jar filled with sunshine! I am a sucker for anything lemon. 🙂
Haha – me too. Curd is the pinnacle of lemon eating too. Except perhaps lemonade…
lemon curd is sooo delicious isn’t it.
Absolutely – and so versatile.
What size of lemons?
Lemon sized lemons? It doesn’t really matter that much. Just make sure it becomes thick enough and you’ll be fine.
It’s a dangerous thing to know how easy it is to make lemon curd, isn’t it? Yours looks perfect. Have you tried it with Meyer lemons? It’s a nice variation.
We don’t usually get meyer lemons over here. I’ll definitely pick some up when I see some!
I adore lemon curd and my tree is loaded down with lemons right now and a neighboru bought me round about 2 dozen free range eggs last night…so what am I waiting for?! Yours looks so beautiful.
You lead a good life… Drool.
I love lemon curd and with farm fresh eggs I was just given, I know the curd will be delicious.
Oh yummy- those eggs sound great.
This is very talented Blog,i have a big pleasure to be here ,Take care,EM
Thank you – I hope you return!
Lemon curd is one of my favorite things. I recently branched out into orange curd but found it too sweet and not nearly tart enough. Back to the original!
Might work well with blood oranges… good idea…
This looks lovely. I always throw a dollop of this into greek yogurt with walnuts for breakfast. Kinda gross?
But so good!
Not gross – a good idea! Yummy.
Look at that lovely lemon curd! It’s my absolute favorite. I grow my own meyer lemons just to make lemon curd. Well done!!
daisy
Thank you, Daisy – we don’t really get meyer lemons over here – I don’t think we do anyway!
Beautifully photographed and written!!
Thank you! 😀
Nice. I like lemon curd tarts.
I do too, Rosemary!
Thank you, Frugal!! Until this post, I thought lemon curd only came out of a can. I’m looking forward to making something dessert-y with this.
MY pleasure! Haha – it’s so simple!
Clementine curd is a lovely alternative. The flavour is stronger than with regular oranges so it’s not quite so sweet. We make lime curd too, the colour is beautiful.
I’ll have to give them all a shot! 😀
[…] 2 tbsp homemade lemon curd […]
[…] Lemon curd. Lemon curd butterfly cakes. […]
I’ve been playing around with lemon curd and blood orange curds in our Thermomix lately. LC is my downfall–I need to keep it in the fridge with the door closed. I like the juice/sugar proportion in yours–the recipe I used had almost double the sugar. I’ll give it a try. Thanks. Ken
That would be far too sweet for my tastes. These quantities ensure a very tangy, well-balanced, flavourful curd.
Thank you so much – I’ve just made some as a birthday present for my mum. I’m severely lacking in funds atm however I know mum will adore it.
I hope so! I make things like this for mum when I’m lacking too.