Scrumptious Lemon Curd
It’s not too often that I usually share a cake-related recipe, as I’m all about the decorating and teaching side of the cake biz. But with Mother’s Day now upon us, I had to make a special exception!
Growing up, I adopted my Mum’s taste for citrus fruits - especially lemons! So it’s no surprise that any lemon-type dessert is my Mum’s favourite go-to. So it’s in dedication to my Mum that I’m releasing my scrumptious home-made lemon curd recipe - your refreshing citrus twist for your cakes and sweet desserts!
I asked my Mum to join me for this special Mother’s Day blog post.
Mum: “Will I get cake?” Me: “Yes.”
And that’s how I convinced my Mum to take over her kitchen and join me in cooking lemon curd and decorating a cake for a special Mother’s Day morning tea.
See below for your short and sweet recipe, PLUS a visual step-by-step. I hope you enjoy baking in the kitchen with us!
Your refreshing sweet ctirus twist for your cakes and desserts.…”
LET’S GET COOKING
What happens when you place Mum and I in a kitchen together? A little bit of chaos!
For starters, my Mum doesn’t bake…and now suddenly she’s helping me cook and decorate a cake, with a photographer capturing her every move!
And secondly…I have no idea where anything is in my Mum’s kitchen.
Que the funny antics!
Now before we dive into cooking, let me take you through the four ingredients we’ll be using for our lemon curd. And YES - you heard me right - only four! I promise it’s as easy as it sounds.
Eggs - Eggs are used to thicken your curd. As a personal preference, I use a combination of whole eggs and egg yolks to achieve my favourite consistency.
Unsalted Butter - Don’t skimp out on the quality of the butter! The butter plays a major role in the creaminess and underlying taste of the curd. If you want a rich and creamy curd, go for the good stuff!
Castor Sugar - I use white granulated sugar for my curd. However using brown sugar is definitely an option, though bear in mind it will adjust the taste and colour. Both are yummy in their own way, I encourage you to try it!
Lemons - Fresh lemons are my go-to for a tasty end result. PLUS adding in lemon zest gives it that extra zing without the tartness! Avoid using pre-made lemon juice from the shops - it will be too acidic and the taste just won’t be the same.
It’s time to get prepping our ingredients! I personally find it easier to measure and prepare all ingredients before cooking for a seamless experience. My mum also agrees with this statement, so that means I must be right!
Funny anecdote: we had no where to place the dirty dishes that wouldn’t affect the cleanliness and space for our photos. So we resorted to hiding the dirty dishes in the fridge, sink and on a side table out of frame. The things we do for nice photos, right?
Enjoy a photo montage of Mum and I prepping our ingredients (scroll down below for full recipe listing the exact ingredient measurements).
It’s time to get cooking! Place your eggs and egg yolks into a saucepan and beat together with a whisk (don’t turn on the stove just yet!)
Whisk in the sugar until it’s lighter in colour, then gradually stir in the lemon juice and zest.
Heat your saucepan on low while whisking constantly until the mixture thickens, which should be about 10 minutes.
Now here’s my Mum’s reaction when I told her she had to now whisk the curd mixture for 10 minutes straight! Ha. Don’t worry, the trade off was doing the dishes.
Jokes aside, it’s really important at this stage in the process to continually whisk your curd. Otherwise? Enjoy scrambled eggs! I recommend popping on some of your favourite tunes and get lost in the whisking.
Once 10 minutes are up, your curd should have noticeably thickened. Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in your cold butter until completed melted.
Room temperature butter is fine, but I always prefer using cold butter because it helps to cool and set the curd more quickly.
Pour your curd into a jar or container, making sure to place cling-wrap over the curd surface to prevent skin forming. Your curd is ready to use once it’s completely cooled!
Depending on your preference, you can strain the curd before pouring it into your container to cool. This will remove any remaining zest or potential scrambled egg in your mixture and make the curd extra silky smooth!
Your lemon curd can be used for an array of different desserts, including tarts, crepes or even your breakfast toast! Mum and I decided to use the delicious curd as a cake filling for our Mother’s Day morning tea.
To add filling to a cake, pipe a border of thick icing just inside the outer edge of your cake layer. This creates a ‘dam’ and acts as a barrier to prevent any filling from squishing out the sides of your cake.
Once you’ve piped your dam, simply fill the centre with your curd and proceed with stacking your cake layers as per normal. Repeat the process for the other cake layers!
Mum accidentally was a little too generous with the curd (cause gosh we love our lemon, how can you blame us?) and overfilled the layers, which contributed to our cake icing slightly bulging.
To avoid this issue, when you add your filling make sure it sits just under your icing dam.
To finish it off, we embraced a semi-naked cake for a simple, rustic finish. Topped with fresh strawberries, raspberries and edible flowers, it was the perfect morning tea treat!
LEMON CURD - RECIPE
Ingredients
200g castor sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
100ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (approx 2-3 lemons)
2 tbsp lemon zest
115g cold unsalted butter, cubed
Method
Place eggs and egg yolks into a saucepan and beat together with a whisk
Whisk in the sugar until it’s lighter in colour
Gradually stir in lemon juice and lemon zest
Heat the saucepan on low while stirring constantly until mixture noticeably thickens (approx 10 minutes). Don’t stop whisking, otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled eggs in your curd!
Remove saucepan from the heat, then add the cold butter and mix until fully melted.
Pour your curd into a jar or container, making sure to place cling-wrap over the curd surface to prevent skin forming. Your curd is ready to use once it’s completely cooled!