Lime Curd is an easy and versatile dessert that comes together in about 10 minutes on the stovetop, with simple ingredients. This luscious, silky curd is absolutely bursting with zippy lime flavor, and makes the perfect topping for so many desserts.
Why you’ll love this delicious Lime Curd:
- Zippy Lime Flavor – This rich and silky lime curd is chock full of zippy lime flavor!
- Easy Recipe – This easy recipe is completely doable for any skill levels.
- Versatile Recipe – Use this easy curd to top cakes and cheesecakes, or spoon it over ice cream!
Ingredient Overview:
As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found at the bottom of this post.
- Lime Juice – Use freshly squeezed lime juice from regular limes or key limes. (If you want this to be a key lime curd recipe, you’ll need so manyyy more since they are tiny – so regular limes are probably the best way to go here, hah!) You’ll have better flavor if you use real limes vs. bottled juice.
- Whole eggs – I modified my old recipe for Lime Curd (from my Mojito Cake) to use whole eggs instead of egg yolks & whole eggs. In the cake, it works out because the leftover whites are used in the cake. In other scenarios, though, it’s more convenient if we can use whole eggs.
- Granulated sugar – Granulated sugar adds sweetness to contrast with the sharp lime flavor.
- Vanilla extract – Use real vanilla for best results.
- Salt – Everything in life needs a pinch of salt for balance.
- Butter – I always use salted buter for the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer.
Ingredient Substitutions:
- Dairy-free – Use your favorite dairy-free buter.
- Gluten-free – This recipe is naturally gluten-free!
How to Make this Homemade Lime Curd Recipe Step-by-Step:
Step 1: Juice your Limes. You’ll can use fresh lime juice here, or you can use bottled key lime juice if you can’t find key limes.
Step 2: Mix Ingredients. Rub the lime zest into the granulated sugar with clean hands. Then, add the eggs, lime juice, and salt.
Step 3: Cook the Curd. Whisk well, and cook, whisking for 4-5 minutes. The temperature on a candy thermometer should reach 185 degrees F (85 degrees C).
Step 4: Strain. Strain the cooked lime curd through a fine mesh sieve. This will ensure any tiny bits of egg that got cooked are flushed out, along with the lime zest pieces (they’re done serving their purpose). (That may sound icky, but it’s totally normal and you won’t taste anything eggy in the curd, unless you absolutely blasted the heat and scrambled the eggs while you cooked it, in which case you would clearly see that, haha!)
Step 5: Color the Curd. Lime curd is naturally yellow – annoyingly, hah. So, you can leave it as is or add a bit of green food coloring to the lime mixture to make it look limey.
Serving + Storing this Lime Curd:
Transfer the fresh lime curd into a small bowl or glass jar and cover well. Refrigerate until ready to use, or up to 1 week.
Expert Success Tips:
- Don’t Overheat – Be gentle with the heat so that you don’t scramble the eggs.
- Eggy Smell – When cooking eggs on the stovetop for a lime or lemon curd, or the filling for french silk pie, I find that if you stick your nose right up in the pot and take a whiff, it’s going to smell a bit eggy, even if you aren’t overcooking the eggs. So, I wouldn’t necessarily worry if you catch a whiff of that.
- Extra Lime Zest – Don’t waste the lime zest on all the limes we’re juicing for this recipe. You’ll only need the zest of 1 lime, but go ahead & zest the remaining limes as well. You can use that lime zest in whatever recipe you may be using the lime curd with (for example, my Key Lime Pie Cheesecake), or you can freeze it for later.
FAQs:
Theoretically, yes. You could swap the lime zest and juice for lemon juice and zest to make a lemon version, or swap orange juice, or blood orange juice, etc. However, I haven’t tried it so I cannot guarantee that it will turn out.
I think you could double it, but I wouldn’t scale the recipe up any farther than that. You should be able to halve it as well.
I haven’t tried it, but a quick search tells me that other people have frozen homemade fruit curd, and it works just fine. Let it cool to room temperature, then freeze in a freezer safe container for 1-2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.
I think an old-school way to do it is to use a double boiler, but there’s no need to do that, especially if you don’t own one! As long as you cook the mixture gently, you’ll be fine with just a pot directly on the stove top.
Special Tools:
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- Heavy Saucepan- I use a medium sized pot like this to cook my lime curd.
- Whisk – You’ll need a good medium sized whisk for this recipe.
- Instant Read Thermometer – You’ll need an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of your curd.
Recipes to Serve Lime Curd with:
- Top my Key Lime Pie Cheesecake with it (it also gets used in the batter!)
- Use it as a lime curd filling for cakes, like in my Mojito Cake with Lime Curd
- A scoop of vanilla ice cream with crushed graham crackers
- Dollop it over slices of Pound Cake (sub the grapefruit juice for lemon or lime) or over my Lemon Loaf
- Top my Classic Cheesecake with it (in place of the strawberry sauce)
More Lime Recipes to Love:
- Key Lime Pie Cheesecake
- Key Lime Slice & Bake Cookies
- Mojito Cake with Lime Curd Cake Filling
- Key Lime Pie Bars
- One-Bowl Key Lime Bundt Cake
Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo and leave a comment!
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Silky Lime Curd
Ingredients
- zest of 1 large lime
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup juice from fresh limes about 6 large limes, juiced.
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp salted butter, cole & cubed
Instructions
- Prep: Zest, then juice your limes. (You'll only need the zest of 1 large lime, and the rest can be frozen for later use!) Set a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Get out a medium saucepan and your candy thermometer or instant read thermometer.
- Make the Lime Curd: Add lime zest and sugar to a medium saucepan, rubbing the lime zest into the sugar well with clean fingers. Add the lime juice, eggs, and salt to the same pot. Whisk until well combined. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat, for 4-5 minutes or until the temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 185° F. The mixture should coat the back of a spoon, and hold a trail when you drag your finger through the curd.Remove the saucepan from the heat immediately at this point, and strain it into the medium bowl to remove any lumps. Press it through the holes with the back of a silicone spatula to get all the curd. Whisk the butter into the hot curd mixture, a few tablespoons at a time, until fully combined. Whisk in the vanilla last.
- Serve & Store: Chill in the fridge at least 3 hours or up to 1 week before using. Store in an airtight container or a mason jar. The curd will thicken as it cools.
- Tip: Use a bit of green food coloring to make this look more like lime – it is naturally more yellow.Note: This yields just shy of 2 cups, or 520 grams of lime curd.
Nutrition
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