It’s hard to go back to shop-bought curd after lemon curd your own. Just make sure you keep an eye on the pan while the curd is thickening so that it doesn’t split. Stir in the remaining ingredients and place over a medium heat.
Do not allow the mixture to boil or it may split. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Keep in the fridge for up to a month, but use within a week of opening the jar. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Enter the characters you see below Sorry, we just need to make sure you’re not a robot. An easy recipe for lemon curd, a delicious treat you can enjoy on its own, or as a filling or topping for desserts.
Leda Meredith is a food writer and certified botanist who has written five books on foraging and preserving food. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In the heat-proof bowl or top part of the double boiler, whisk together the 2 eggs and egg yolk. Whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the butter is completely melted.
Switch from a whisk to a spoon and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. The curd should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. 2 teaspoon of the curd on a cool plate. Save the seeds and the white parts of the lemon peels to make citrus pectin for future jams and jellies. The stirring constantly is important: if you don’t stir enough, you will end up with small pieces of scrambled egg in your lemon curd. Also, if you’ve never made fruit curds before, it’s helpful to know that the curd won’t be fully thickened to the soft pudding consistency you want while it’s still hot. It needs to cool down first.
Experienced canners may raise an eyebrow in query: Do you really need to refrigerate the sealed jars even though you’ve processed in a boiling water bath? Yes, with fruit curds, you do. Lemon curd can also be frozen for up to 1 year. I don’t like this at all. Serving up real food for real families!