Lemon Curd

This Lemon Curd Recipe is silky smooth and sinfully delicious! Perfectly lemony with a buttery finish, you’ll likely want to put it on everything, not just your desserts! 

I’ll admit, whenever I make this lemon curd I challenge myself to find as many things to put it on as possible–yogurt bowls, toast, should I try it in a smoothie or is that too far? 

If you are interested in a recipe that uses this lemon curd, try my Lemon Shortbread Sandwich Cookies!

 

Lemon Curd is made from 5 simple ingredients—

Egg yolks

 

Sugar 

 

Lemon Zest

 

Lemon Juice 

 

Unsalted Butter 

 

It’s likely that you already have the eggs, sugar and butter at home, so all that’s left is to go buy 2-3 lemons and you’ll be ready to make this super easy lemon curd recipe! 

How to make this easy Lemon Curd Recipe 

A lot of lemon curd recipes require that the curd be made in a bain-marie (double boiler). However I find that as long as you pay close attention to the curd, making it over direct heat is perfectly fine.

 

Start by adding ½ cup of granulated sugar to a small saucepan. 

 

Next, zest your lemons until you have 1 Tbsp of lemon zest. I find that 1 medium lemon works perfectly for both the zest and the juice, but it could be smart to buy two lemons just in case. Add the lemon zest to the sugar in the saucepan. 

 

Using a whisk, vigorously whisk the sugar and lemon zest together in the saucepan. This step helps bring out the oils in the lemon zest, ultimately adding more flavor.

 

Next, add three egg yolks straight into the saucepan with the sugar and zest and whisk vigorously until the mixture lightens in color. 

 

Pour in ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice and whisk until combined. 

 

Place the saucepan over low/medium heat making sure to whisk constantly. Pay special attention to the edges of the saucepan, the curd would most likely burn here if anywhere. Whisk constantly until the mix thickens. You’ll know it’s done when it reaches a hollandaise sauce consistency. It will thicken even more in the refrigerator.

 

Pull the lemon curd off of the heat and mix in 1/4 cup of cold butter that has been cut into tablespoon sized pieces. Mix until butter has melted.

 

Optionally you may pass the curd through a kitchen sieve to get rid of any lemon zest if you prefer a perfectly smooth curd.

 

Place the lemon curd in an airtight container and let it cool/thicken in the refrigerator for 1 hour. It will last in the fridge for up to 5 days.

If you try this recipe, be sure to snap a photo of how you use it and tag me on instagram @karisscorner!

Can baking be therapeutic?

I often talk about baking being a therapeutic hobby but I’d like to share more about why I feel that way as well as how it can become a relaxing hobby for you!

When I bake, it’s my creative time. I may put on my favorite nostalgic movie or tv show in the background, or a Spotify playlist titled “French café” and leave my troubles behind.

Sometimes I pour myself a glass of wine and light a candle. Then, with the mood set, the mixing of batter, kneading of dough and smoothing of icing is my only care in the world.

When I say baking is therapeutic, sometimes people respond saying “not for me it isn’t!” I completely understand why someone might feel that way. There have been plenty of times where I spend hours on something only for it to fail or something breaks that shouldn’t or I forget to clean as I go and am left with a disastrous kitchen to clean. 

So I should in reality, have a caveat to my “baking as therapy” claims…

Baking is therapy when you curate the experience to be relaxing.

How do you curate that relaxing experience for yourself, you ask?   

How to make baking therapeutic…

1.  Prepare your mind–know that it’s okay if the cake doesn’t rise, or the butter wasn’t chilled enough. Shift your mindset from seeing your failures as mistakes to seeing them as opportunities for learning.

 

1. Prepare your space–I cannot and will not bake on top of a messy kitchen. If I were to do this I would be starting from a place of stress! Take an extra 10 minutes to clean any dishes in the sink and wipe down the counters, this small effort will pay you back greatly in brain space and clarity.

 

1. Clean as you go! I’ll tell you the one way to make baking stressful and tiresome, is to not clean as you go! After I use each ingredient that I no longer need, I put it away. 

After each major step in the process, I wipe down the counters and put dishes that are no longer needed in the sink. If there is chill time or baking time I don’t sit, I do the cleaning then. Make this shift and you’ll really notice the difference! 

By the way, this last tip really helped me when I was on The Great American Baking Show–and the crew that cleaned up behind us made a point to tell me that my workspace was always so clean they didn’t have much to do! 

I would reply by saying “it’s how I stay sane in this tent!”

 

Additional suggestions:

*Maybe try printing off the recipe instead of looking at it on your phone, tablet or laptop and use this time to unplug from technology for a few hours

**Invite friends or family over to share your creation with you. Time spent with loved ones over food is a universally special experience

And that’s how I discovered baking for my mental health. If you try any of these suggestions, let me know how it went for you! I’m really invested in spreading this message to others in hopes that baking will enhance your lives more than it already does!

Happy Baking!