Lemon Curd Is the Perfect Recipe for Lazy Bakers

Not just for British ladies who solve crimes on PBS! This easy recipe is about to rule your summer.
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Christina Holmes

When I hear the phrase "lemon curd" I picture an old Miss Marple kind of British lady, sitting at an impeccably set table for tea. Wait a second—you think this is a negative scenario? This is heaven! Miss Marple is a badass—she's about to solve a murder and you haven't even brushed your teeth yet. And lemon curd, despite it's unfortunate sounding name, is really badass, too. Here's why.

This weekend, I needed a dessert to bring to a friend's dinner-and-Game-of-Thrones viewing party, and there was no way in the seven kingdoms I was turning the oven on. There are a lot of TV references happening today. I also had some heavy cream about to expire in my fridge. So I searched Bon Appétit's "heavy cream" tag, which is a thing I do not recommend you do while hungry. A few "pinning-this-for-later" recipes later, I found this one from 2014: Meyer lemon cream with graham crackers and sea salt. Bless you, Alison Roman, for this fancy sounding but actually ridiculously easy recipe.

The real secret of this recipe is its basic outline for lemon curd. (I used regular lemons from my plebeian grocery store and I couldn't be happier.) Mix lemon juice, eggs, and sugar in a sauce pan until thickened, blend with some butter, refrigerate. Done. As a dessert, with some whipped heavy cream and a sprinkle of lemon zest, graham cracker dust, and salt, it was a sweet-sour crowd-pleaser that I'll definitely keep making all summer. But the leftovers? That's where it's at.

Jar of lemon curd with a spoon dipping into the curd and slices of lemon off to the side
Our best lemon curd recipe is low-effort, high-reward, and results in a spread so light you’ll want to eat it with a spoon.
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Things to Do with Lemon Curd

Breakfast: Get all lifestyle-bloggery and mixed the curd in with chia pudding and blueberries = insane.

Second breakfast: Shmear onto toast/English muffin/scone you stole from a meeting you're weren't supposed to even be in.

Afternoon snack: Sneak a spoonful with some yogurt + chunky salt. It's like a lemon creamsicle.

Late afternoon snack: Eat directly from spoon because life is short and this is the closest thing we have to Sour Patch Kids right now.
Pre-dinner snack: On a cracker with some triple crème perhaps? Living large, my friend, living large.

After-dinner dessert: Swirl with ice cream, frozen yogurt, or that puréed banana faux-ice cream people are into.

Late-night snack: Spread on graham crackers, call it dessert nachos.

When life gives you lemons, make these lemon desserts