Easy, homemade lemon curd is ready in less than 20 minutes! Tangy, sweet, and silky smooth - it's perfect for cake fillings, cookies, spooning over pound cake or spreading on scones.
½cupbuttermelted coold to lukewarm but still liquid.
Instructions
Whisk together the sugar and the eggs until smooth in a microwave safe bowl.
Stir in lemon juice, zest, and melted butter
Microwave on high in one minute. Stir.
Continue microwaving in 1 minute intervals, stirring after each interval until mixture coats the back of a spoon.
Remove from microwave and spoon into a clean pint jar or other container.
Refrigerate.
Notes
Storage:Refrigerate leftover lemon curd in an airtight container for up to one week, preferably in sealed jars. It keeps odors out better than plastic.Good news! You can make the deliciousness last even longer by freezing lemon curd—it'll keep for up to a year.Thaw frozen curd in the fridge overnight before serving cold or at room temperature.Tips:
Let the melted butter cool before mixing it with the eggs—it should be lukewarm but still liquid. Scalding hot butter will scramble the eggs!
Every lemon contains a different amount of juice, so measure carefully. Too much juice will make your curd runny.
Don’t mix the ingredients in stainless steel. Lemon juice is acidic and can react with metal—this could give your lemon curd a metallic taste.
Use a large bowl and fill it halfway. Lemon curd naturally froths while it cooks, so putting too much lemon curd in the bowl will make it overflow in the microwave—what a mess!
Don’t forget to stir well after each minute in the microwave. This helps the mixture cook evenly.
Your lemon curd is thick enough when it coats the back of a spoon, and you can run your finger through it without it immediately filling back in.
If you've curdled the eggs go ahead and strain the cooked lemon curd through a fine mesh strainer before storing.
The best way to keep fruit curd is in a sealed glass container, like a large mason jar or several small glass jars. The pores in plastic containers will allow smells from other items in the fridge to leech into your lemon curd.