Luscious Lemon Curd
Sometimes you don’t need to test lots of different recipes to find the best one. Sometimes you try a recipe and it’s perfect. The Lemon Curd recipe from Shiran Dickson on her Pretty Simple Sweet blog has become my go-to since the first time I tried it. In her post she offers helpful tips, easy to follow steps, and your effort results in a truly luscious (her word), creamy custard with just the right amount of zing you expect from a lemony dessert.
I first made the Lemon Curd recipe to use as a base for a fruit tart I was creating for my husband last year as a Valentines Day treat. But before the curd even made it into the tart I knew it this recipe was a keeper. I could have eaten it straight out of the bowl…even before I chilled it. (Okay, maybe I did just a little.) And I’ve repeatedly used the same recipe each time one of my desserts needed a fabulous lemony kick. Hopefully one of these ideas will inspire you to give it a go. Or with ingredients as simple as lemons, eggs, sugar, and butter you could probably give it a go right now!
Straight up in a tart: I had some close friends over for brunch and wanted to impress them with a simple yet decadent dessert so I made mini versions of a sweet tart, poured in the lemon curd and decorated with a candied lemon.
Pour it into a pavlova: I used it on it’s own as non-traditional filling for a mini pavlova. For those with an extra sweet tooth and a taste for lemon. This one’s for you. (See top photo)
As a french macaron filling: Instead of simply adding some lemon zest to some buttercream, I folded about a quarter cup of the Lemon Curd into a vanilla butter cream for a bright, lemon laced filling.
For a twist on a Linzer Cookie: Classic Linzer Cookies traditionally feature a raspberry jam between the buttery cookies. I made mine with this Lemon Curd with a little extra butter whipped in and the combo was to die for.
Slather it on a scone. Technically, I haven’t done this yet but I think it would be an amazing combination…buttery scone...buttery lemon curd. (Heart eyes emoji!)
Scroll down to see some photos of these creations and the recipe.
Lemon French Macarons. Photo by Daniel Marks.
Lemon Curd Recipe:
Linzer Cookie filled with lemon curd mixed with a little confectioners sugar to give it some stiffness.
A few tips:
If you’ve never made lemon curd before, read her whole post before diving in. She offers useful a lot of useful tips. (More than I am here.)
She suggests trying it first with whole eggs to make it easier and lighter. I’ve opted for 1 whole egg and 4 egg yolks because I wanted something thicker and richer in my filling.
Keep an eye on your mixture while whisking. Her recipe says it took her 10 minutes for her mixture to thicken. Mine thickened much faster than that.
The recipe yields 1 ½ cups of lemon curd. That’s really not quite enough to fill up my tart pan, so you might consider doubling.
Mini Lemon Sweet Tarts
