Tangy Vanilla Lemon Curd; deliciously sweet and sour lemon curd you can make in minutes to dress up any desserts, scones, or cakes!
We all know the best spreads can be measured by their spoonability. Not by versatility, texture, or flavour necessarily, just by how much you want to spoon it straight into yer gob.
Today’s recipe ticks the spoonability box with all the passive aggressive emphasis of a teacher marking their final paper of the day.
Lemon curd is an underrated gem in the world of spreads. A bit old-fashioned, and something you might be more used to seeing in garden centre gift shops that in your own kitchen cupboards. However, I’ll never stop being an advocate for this stuff.
It presents one of the best ways to have sour and sweet together. Allow yourself to stray from sugar-coated sour sweets, or gherkins straight from the fridge, or vinegar-soused chips. Get your tang from this stuff instead.
This Tangy Vanilla Lemon Curd pairs beautifully with an absurd number of things. Spread it on scones, toast, or between the layers of a cake. Marble it through yoghurt, ice cream, or a smoothie. Drop a wee dollop onto pancakes, waffles, or the tip of your own tongue. Let that citrus bounce off every tastebud as you do so.
Its lemon sharpness and vanilla creaminess together means it can spice up the plainest of bakes, or level out the richest of desserts.
And, of course, it’s easy to throw together. If you have a pan, a bowl, and a whisk, you’re all set. A few minutes of gently heating and stirring will turn some every day ingredients into a gorgeous pastel-yellow curd you can store in the fridge for any time you’re in need of a sweet snack.
This recipe for Tangy Vanilla Lemon Curd will keep well in a container in the fridge for (at least) a week. You’ll get two small jars, or one large jar, from the instructions below. We spread ours on some scones we had in the cupboard, and I used the rest to sandwich layers of coconut cake together (recipe coming soon!).
It’s a great summery recipe to have to hand, and perfectly refreshing in the stuffy heat.
Want to save this Tangy Vanilla Lemon Curd for later? You can pin the image below:
To make this Tangy Vanilla Lemon Curd, simply follow the recipe below!
Ingredients
- 3 lemons
- 200g (1 cup) caster or granulated sugar
- 100g (6 ½ tbsp) butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
Instructions
- Grate your lemon zest and squeeze your lemon juice into a large heatproof bowl with your sugar.
- Add your butter, vanilla, and salt.
- Place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and allow the ingredients to gently melt together, whisking occasionally.
- Crack your eggs into a separate bowl and beat them together.
- Gradually pour the eggs into the bowl of lemon mixture, whisking constantly.
- Continue whisking for 5-10 minutes until the mixture has warmed and thickened to the texture of custard.
- Pour your cooked lemon curd into a heatproof jug, before pouring into sealable containers.
- Allow to cool, then refrigerate until ready to use.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not swap the lemons for limes, oranges, or even a few passion fruits?
This Tangy Vanilla Lemon Curd will keep well in the fridge for up to a week, but is best eaten fresh!
Hi Kelly, I made your vanilla lemon curd for strawberry and blueberry tarts. It was exactly what I was looking for and it’s excellent! Beautiful flavor and instructions were spot on. The only thing I did different was I tempered the eggs with a 1/4 of the warm lemon sugar syrup because slowly pouring eggs into a hot mixture NEVER works for me. Thanks for sharing this recipe, it’s a keeper! *Karen