Homemade Lemon Curd

You say lemons … Heleen Meyer says lemon curd!

In Heleen’s house, lemon curd is an absolute favourite treat and she loves to make it part of a special dessert. There are so many ways to enjoy this delicate treat. Here is her recipe with some of her tasty suggestions to make the most of every jar.

Yes, lemon curd is available in shop-bought versions, but when homemade, it’s just so much tastier!

Here’s a few key steps to follow when making a curd:

1. Carefully follow the instructions and have a bit of patience.
2. A curd is made from egg yolks combined with sugar, fresh lemon juice, rind and cubes of cold butter, cooked over gently simmering water until it thickens. The colder the butter, the more evenly the heating process will be.
3. Egg yolks are very sensitive to heat, so this is where the extra patience is crucial. Make sure that the water is not boiling too rapidly, as this will overheat the egg yolks and cook the curd too quickly, which could cause the eggs to curdle. There’s not much to salvage once that happens …
4. Test the consistency over the back of a spoon, to know when the curd is ready – just follow the steps described in the method below. Once cooled, the mixture thickens even more, making it easy to spread or dollop onto just about anything.
5. A well-made lemon curd has a delicate, velvety smooth texture and sweet, yet tangy and tart flavour – really one of a kind!

How to enjoy lemon curd

Make a batch of your favourite pancakes or bake a fresh batch of scones to serve with lemon curd as a special teatime treat with smooth cottage cheese and dollops of curd. It’s as delicious on French toast. Or make a quick dessert and add spoonfuls to small bowls of seasonal fruit like berries, top it with chopped dark chocolate and a mint leaf or two. Lemon curd is a great alternative to icing on a butter cake. Garnish the cake with fresh berries for an even more luxurious end-result. It goes without saying that lemon curd is perfect with meringues. Stir some curd into thick plain double-cream yoghurt and use as the filling for a big or even small pavlovas, topped with berries or fresh seasonal fruit. Make a deconstructed ‘Eton mess’ in individual glasses with chunks of broken meringue, dollops of lemon curd, plain yoghurt and fresh, seasonal fruit. Stir a tin of granadilla pulp into the curd to bulk it up and add an interesting extra flavour to any of these dessert ideas.

Homemade lemon curd

Recipe by Heleen Meyer

Makes 250 ml

4 egg yolks (see tip)

100 ml castor sugar

125 ml (½ cup) fresh lemon juice, strained

100 ml (100 g) cold butter, cubed

15 ml (1 tbsp) finely grated lemon rind

1. Place all the ingredients in a glass bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, ensuring that the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
2. Beat everything together until smooth and the butter has melted. Stir for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture coats the back of a metal spoon. Take care that the mixture doesn’t boil.
3. Remove from the heat and spoon into a bowl to cool – remember that the curd thickens more as it cools down. If you want to use the curd immediately, allow it to cool for at least three to four hours so that it sets properly.
4. Or if you’re keeping it for later, sterilise one or two small glass jars with boiling water. Pour the water out, spoon warm curd into the jars and seal while warm. Allow to cool and refrigerate. Keep in the fridge until needed. It will keep in the fridge for two to three weeks in the jar.

Top tip: make a meringue with the egg whites or freeze them to make meringues with at a later stage. Did you know that egg whites can be frozen and they beat to a higher volume than egg whites which were not frozen.

For more recipes like this visit Heleen’s website.

Image by Adel Ferreira

Originally Published by the South African Association of Retired Persons.