Lime Curd Recipe: How to Make Lime Curd

Lime curd is a sweet spread made with lime juice, sugar, eggs, and butter. Adding an acidic fruit juice to eggs curdles them (hence the name of the spread), but with more heat and the emulsification of whisking in butter, the ingredients achieve a cohesive, creamy mixture.

Key lime juice makes a slightly sweeter and less tart lime curd. The Key lime plant originated in Southeast Asia, but the name comes from the Florida Keys, where it is most known. Key lime curd varies in color from light green to yellow: A fresh Key lime is yellow when fully ripe but is still green when farmers harvest it.

Tart lime curd balances rich and creamy foods. Here are some ways to use your homemade lime curd:

1. 1. Breakfast foods: Use lime curd on waffles for a sweet-and-tart topping. Fill crepes with the fruit curd and top with powdered sugar or whipped cream. Additionally, use lime curd instead of lemon curd on scones with clotted cream. Learn how to make scones from scratch.
2. 2. Cheesecake: Swirl the lime mixture right into the cheesecake batter. It’s a way to flavor cheesecake without adding additional moisture to the batter with fruit chunks or purée. Curd suspends in the cheesecake batter and retains its swirl.
3. 3. Dessert filling: For cake filling, pipe a border of buttercream around the outside of the cake and then fill that in with lime curd. For cupcakes, cut a little hole through the center of the cake and fill it with lime curd, then frost as usual. Alternatively, use lime curd as the filling in a French macaron recipe.
4. 4. Ice cream: Mix lime curd right into ice cream before freezing, or top ice cream with lime curd and let it firm up slightly on the surface of the frozen dessert.
5. 5. Pavlova: Pavlova is a baked meringue dessert featuring a depression in the center that you can fill with fruit curd, fresh fruit, and sweetened whipped cream. Use lime curd as the bottom layer, add the sweetened whipped cream, and top with fresh fruit. Use this berry pavlova recipe as a guide.
6. 6. Tartlets: Make lime curd tartlets in the style of Key lime pie with a graham cracker crust or a more classic tarte au citron with a pastry crust. If you can’t find Key limes, use regular fresh lime juice in any Key lime curd recipe.

Lime zest adds a more concentrated lime flavor than juice alone. Run the curd through a fine-mesh strainer to eliminate the specks of lime zest at the end of the cooking process. Here’s what else to know:

1. 1. Try a double boiler. Cooking lime curd in a double broiler can prevent accidentally scorching or curdling the curd. Fill a small saucepan with a couple of inches of water and place a heatproof bowl just inside the saucepan, ensuring the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water. Bring the water to a boil and cook the curd in the bowl.
2. 2. Test the thickness. Use the wooden spoon method to test the consistency of the lime curd. Coat the back of a wooden spoon with the curd, then run your finger in a line down the back of the spoon. If the line holds and doesn’t fill in with curd, it’s thick enough.
3. 3. Store it properly. Just like any other citrus curd, lime curd lasts in the refrigerator in an airtight container or covered securely with plastic wrap for about 10 days. Freeze lime curd in ice cube trays and then transfer the cubes to a plastic freezer bag to store for up to a year.