Ingredients
Units
You can easily halve this recipe.Â
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- Large pinch of sea salt
- A few drops of vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat lemon juice and butter over medium-high heat and remove just below the boiling point.Â
- In a large bowl whisk whole eggs, yolks, and sugar to blend.
- Gradually add the hot lemon mixture to the eggs, mixing well and quickly. Don't add it all at once as you can curdle parts of the eggs.Â
- Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and stir constantly over medium-low heat until it thickens and leaves a path in the back of the spoon (or silicone spatula) that stays put for a few seconds. Be careful it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan so it doesn't burn.
- Remove from the heat, add salt and vanilla, and stir well.Â
- Strain curd with a fine-mesh strainer to avoid any hard bits that might have formed. This optional step ensures creamy curds, but you can omit it if you feel your mixture is smooth and has no lumps. I don't always follow it.Â
- Transfer to a shallow bowl and cover with a piece of plastic wrap or a freezer sheet that touches the whole surface of the curd, and let cool. This will prevent a thick layer from forming.Â
- Refrigerate in a jar or airtight container with a lid for a week. Or freeze in freezer containers for up to a month.Â
Notes
- Organization:Â read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperatures, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier!
- Overcooking: it can cause the lemon curd to curdle or become grainy. If in doubt if it's thick enough or not, remove it from the heat, check, and return to cook more if necessary.Â
- Lumpy curd: not whisking the mixture constantly while cooking, which can result in lumps or uneven cooking.
- When to strain lemon curd: if you have pieces of cooked egg (it can happen if you add the hot butter mixture too quickly), strain it before transferring it to a bowl.Â
- Bottled lemon juice: I don't recommend using it as it may contain additives or preservatives that can alter the flavor of the curd. And the flavor won't be as fresh-tasting as with fresh juice. That said, you can make curd with lemon juice from a bottle.Â
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Sauces
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: International
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/12
- Calories: 136
- Sugar: 17.2 g
- Sodium: 219.7 mg
- Fat: 6.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.3 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 2.7 g
- Cholesterol: 102.9 mg