Lime Curd Recipe

This lime curd recipe is truly delightful. It is so good on crackers, cookies, scones, and toast. It adds a sweet tangy and fresh flavor to whatever you eat it with. And I highly recommend trying it with these Key Lime Cupcakes. 

This delicious lime curd is an easy recipe with only 6 simple ingredients that can be made in about 15 minutes.

Jump to:

• What is lime curd?
• Ingredients
• How to eat lime curd?
• How to Store Your Curd
• Related Recipes:
• Key Lime Curd Recipe
• Lime Curd Recipe

What is lime curd?

Lime curd is a wonderful summer treat made with key limes, sugar, and egg yolks to create a creamy, zesty, slightly tart, fresh custard-like sauce you can use similar to a jam, though the texture is different than jam.

Lime curd is a great spread for scones and is perfect for afternoon tea. 

You can use this Curd as a cupcake or cake filling for a fresh summer dessert, spread it on some fresh scones, like these cream scones, and even add it to toast. It’s also the perfect addition to any vanilla-flavored pastries. 

Ingredients

• Sugar – You want to use superfine sugar in this recipe so it easily dissolves. 
• Cornstarch – A little bit of cornstarch helps to thicken this curd just enough
• Lime zest – You’ll need approximately two fresh limes to get the amount of zest needed for this recipe. The zest helps to increase the lime flavor in this recipe.    
• Key lime juice – You’ll need a whole cup of lime juice. Fresh lime juice is great, but you can also use a good bottled lime juice. This bottled Key Lime Juice from Nellie & Joe’s saves a lot of time and is wonderful in this key lime curd recipe. I highly recommend key limes as opposed to Persian limes. Persian limes are a bit more acidic than key limes and will make the curd a bit more tart.   
• Egg yolks – You need to use only the yolks for this recipe as the whites will alter the texture. If you start with whole eggs, you can use the leftover egg whites to make this key lime cupcake recipe or a delicious buttercream frosting.
• Cold unsalted butter – It’s important to use cold butter, so wait until it’s time before pulling it out of the refrigerator. Adding the butter cold will help keep the glossy look of the lime curd that you expect. If the butter is warm or at room temperature when added, the recipe won’t have a shiny look.

• Whisk sugar and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan.
• Add the egg yolks, zest, and lime juice and whisk until well combined. Add small pieces of butter to the egg mixture and cook over medium-low heat. Be very careful it doesn’t get curdled. You can use a double boiler here, but I like the simplicity of using a saucepan and keeping an eye on it. 
• Stir constantly for 6 minutes or until the mixture is thick enough to hold a line on the back of a spoon, as shown above.
• Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

How to eat lime curd?

• Add it on top of ice cream, cupcakes, scones, cookies, or toast. 
• Serve it at a cream tea with scones, clotted cream, and a pot of freshly brewed tea. 
• Use this lime curd filling in between cake layers on your next white or vanilla cake. 

How to Store Your Curd

Store this fresh lime curd in an airtight container, like mason jars or old jam jars, in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.  

This homemade curd freezes well. I recommend storing it in small serving-size amounts for easy use. Thaw to room temperature before using. 

Related Recipes:

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Key Lime Curd Recipe