Updated on April 9th, 2023
Consider making lime curd when you’re looking for a delicious and healthy lemon curd substitute. It’s easy to make, versatile, and delicious. Here’s how to make it. You can also use it in place of lemon curd in cakes and pies. Read on for more information. We’ll cover the best methods to make this delicious alternative to lemon curd. Just be sure to check the recipe for ingredients and preparation instructions.
What is Lemon Curd?
A cooked mixture of eggs, lemon juice and zest, sugar, and butter is lemon curd. It’s a lemony spread or zesty topping that can be used in various ways. It can be used to spread on scones or toast as a spread. It’s a rich but tangy dessert topping for pancakes, waffles, or ice cream because of the butter. Naturally, lemon curd is also delicious as a filling for layered cake, crepes, or a lemon tart.
Because it isn’t actually a curd, the term can be deceptive. It was, however, when first appeared in Britain in the early 1800s. Lemon curd used to be a curd created by squeezing lemons into cream and separating the curds from the cream.
Since then, lemon curd has gone a long way. Unlike jams and jellies, lemon curd has a rich flavor and a custard-like texture because of the addition of butter and egg. You’re in for a treat if you’ve never tasted lemon curd before!
Top Substitutes for Lemon Curd
1. Lime
Limes are citrus fruits tart, round, and bright green in colour.
They’re abundant in vitamin C, antioxidants, and other nutrients, making them nutritional powerhouses.
The Key lime (Citrus aurantifolia), Persian lime (Citrus latifolia), desert lime (Citrus glauca), and makrut lime (Citrus glauca) are only a few of the lime species (Citrus hystrix).
Each of these species has its own distinct traits. The Key lime, for example, is smaller, acidic, and fragrant than the more prevalent Persian lime.
Persian limes are the most widely accessible in the United States.
Limes may help increase immunity, reduce heart disease risk factors, avoid kidney stones, aid iron absorption, and promote good skin since they are high in nutrients.
2. Passion Fruit
Passion fruit is a tropical flowering vine called Passiflora that thrives in warm climates in South America, Australia, South Africa, and India.
The passion fruit has a soft pulp and many seeds inside a firm rind. The seeds and pulp can be eaten, juiced, or combined with other juices.
Passion fruit has recently received much attention due to its high concentration of strong antioxidants and potential health benefits.
Best Way to Make Lemon Curd Substitute
Start by whisking the eggs and sugar in a medium saucepan over a gently simmering pan. Add the lemon juice and zest, and stir until combined. You can now whisk in the butter, two tablespoons at a time. Then, remove the pan from heat and leave the curd to cool for three hours or overnight. Once cooled, you can serve it as a lemon curd substitute!
To make lime curd, you should first zest the limes. Zest is the thin outer layer of lime. Use a citrus zester to zest the limes. Once zested, use an icing brush to spread the curd onto toast or English muffins. To make it more spreadable, stir in warm lime liquid before serving. Lime curd is an excellent substitute for lemon tart.
What’s the Best Way to Make Lemon Curd?
Good lemon curd has a glossy sheen, binds together like pudding, tastes smooth and creamy, and has a perfect balance of sour and sweet flavours.
I finally settled on my favourite lemon curd recipe after experimenting with variants of five different lemon curd recipes. The recipe below is an adaptation of a recipe I learned while taking classes at a local culinary school.
The Optimal Egg-to-Lemon Juice Ratio
3 tablespoons of lemon juice per whole egg were the ratio I used. This makes a thick curd with a tangy lemon flavour that may be used in other dishes (for instance, between layers of cake).
The curd was still beautiful and thick when I used less juice, but it had an eggy flavour. More juice per egg resulted in a thinner curd with a ketchup-like consistency rather than hard pudding. The flavour was still fantastic, but it wouldn’t work well between cake rounds or maintain its shape in tarts (but it would work well as a curd to drizzle over ice cream).
When Making Lemon Curd, How Much Sugar and Butter Should you Use?
I used just enough sugar to balance out the sourness of the lemon, but not so much that the citrus taste was overpowered. I was determined to make the lemon the star of the show.
In this recipe, I also use a lot of butter. Butter gives me a smooth texture, so I use it a lot. If you’d prefer to use less butter, adjust the amount as needed and taste. Leave a few tablespoons out if you’re happy with less.
When Should Butter be Added to Lemon Curd?
The addition of butter at this point in the process has a significant impact on the texture of the finished lemon curd. Two of the recipes suggested adding butter after the curd had thickened entirely. The texture of both of these versions was slightly gritty, which no one liked.
The curd was smooth and velvety in texture in the variations where I added the butter while the curd was still on the heat (either all at once or little by bit).
Conclusion: Add the butter to the curd while it’s Thickening, not after it’s thickened.
Why Should you Strain your Lemon Curd?
This lemon curd should be strained for three reasons:
If you made curd with entire eggs, you might have spotted white cord-like structures clinging to the yolk. The yolk is held in the core of the egg by these cords, which are known as chalazae. They don’t break down quickly and can leave eggy fragments in the curd, altering the texture. To get those particles out of the curd, you strain it.
I prefer to add citrus zest to my curd to boost the lemon flavour, but I don’t like the chunks in the finished product, so I drain them off.
If your curd becomes too hot during cooking, straining will remove any scrambled eggy parts. (Don’t worry, you can still eat your curd!)
Finally, strain your curd!
What Should you do if your Curd isn’t Thickening?
When the curd has reached the consistency of pourable pudding, remove it from the heat. Give it a few more minutes if it’s thickened but still looks like heavy cream or eggnog. Continue whisking over low heat until the sauce thickens. (Keep in mind that the curd will thicken as it cools.)
If you’ve cooked the curd for far longer than the recipe calls for and it’s still thin as water, your measurements were off, and you added too much juice—or not enough egg.
In a small dish, whisk one egg yolk to thicken it. Scoop a little bit of the warm, liquid curd with a ladle and trickle it slowly into the egg yolk, stirring continually. After that, return the mixture to the pan with the curd. Whisk for another 5 minutes.
If all else fails, add a cornstarch slurry, and your curd still does not thicken. It will change the colour and make the texture a little gritty, but it will still taste delicious.
Tell everyone you produced a delicious lemon sauce and serve it over vanilla ice cream or cake pieces if it still doesn’t thicken.
Conclusion: Whether thick or thin, your curd will be delicious.
If your Curd Breaks, What Should you do?
While simmering or boiling your lemon curd, no bubbles should be visible. Low-temperature cream curds like this one come together quickly.
Remove the curd from the heat if it appears lumpy or curdled. Transfer to a mixing bowl and whisk rapidly until smooth. After that, strain it to eliminate any lumps or eggy bits. Return it to the pan, reduce the heat to low, and continue the process.
Your stove may be causing you problems with temperature. Instead, try boiling your curd in a double boiler. Fill a medium pot halfway with water and put it to a low simmer. Over the water, place a glass or nonreactive metal bowl, making sure the bottom does not touch the water. Continue with the instructions, but increase the cooking time by five minutes.
To avoid curdling or lumps, cook your lemon curd over low heat.
What are Other Modifications to the Recipe?
Lemon curd—or any citrus curd—can be made in various ways if you follow a few broad criteria.
Reduce or increase the sugar to make sweeter or less sweet lemon curd.
Add one extra egg yolk for thicker, richer lemon curd.
Play around with the amount of butter for richer, butterier lemon curd.
You may even omit the butter entirely for dairy-free lemon curd. A dairy-free curd will be quite thick, gloopy, and matte rather than silky gloss. But it still tastes fantastic, and if you don’t eat dairy, it’s preferable to go without.
Whole eggs, yolks only, or a combination of the two can be used to make delicious lemon curds. If you’re only using yolks, substitute each entire egg with two yolks.
You can make curd with grapefruit, lime, Meyer lemon, passionfruit, and/or orange juice and lemon. Simply replace one juice with an equal amount of the other. You may also use the juice from other fruits, such as berries if you add a few tablespoons of lemon juice to the mix.
What are the Uses for Lemon Curd?
I stir lemon curd into freshly whipped cream and serve it on top of raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries as a special after-school snack for my kids. It’s easy to accomplish and takes only a few minutes.
Fill a pre-baked tart crust, layer it between cake rounds, spoon it into yogurt, add it to ice cream, make lemon thumbprint cookies with it, fill donuts or pastries with it, or spoon it on top of pavlova with it.
You get the picture. Only your imagination limits the possibilities.
What are the Lemon Curd Storage, Freezing, and Preserving Ideas?
According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, lemon curd can be kept in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to four weeks.
Transferring the curd to freezer containers (allowing about 1/2-inch space on the top) and freezing it is best to keep it longer. Refrigerate the curd for at least 24 hours before using it. I tried a batch of frozen (and thawed) curd with fresh curd, and there was no discernible difference in texture.
The curd can also be canned in a water bath canner; however, the shelf life is just 3 to 4 months. So, in my opinion, you should just freeze it. Because the acidity of fresh lemons varies, the National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends using bottled lemon juice instead of freshly squeezed if you plan to can it (which ensures an acidity level high enough to ward off bacteria).
Conclusion
Lemon curd is a thick spread created with fresh lemons, sugar, eggs, and butter that is one of the easiest things to make. It has a smooth, creamy texture and a lively, sweet, and zingy flavour, making it ideal for desserts or simply spreading on toast for breakfast.
I bet you’ll never be tempted to buy a jar again after making this simple homemade version because it doesn’t taste nearly as good! What’s the key to the greatest lemon curd? In the end, add the cold butter, and it thickens the curd excellently and gives it a delicious silky soft texture.
