This lighter lemon curd is exactly what your scones, tarts, and parfaits have been missing!

You know how people always ask if you’re team vanilla or chocolate? My go-to dessert flavor is lemon. Lemon anything: cakes, tarts, pies, scones, cookies, and any frozen desserts. Best birthday cake? Lemon with cream cheese frosting. Best part of afternoon tea? The lemon curd. You get the picture.

As much as I love lemon, I’ve always been a bit hesitant to make homemade lemon curd as I was convinced I’d end up with lemony scrambled eggs. . .gross. But I’m proud to report that I successfully made lemon curd and man was it so good! Oh, and I did it with less butter and sugar than traditional lemon curd without losing any of the delicious lemony flavor.

The only downside of lemon curd is that it only keeps for max 7 days in the fridge, and most lemon curd recipes make way more than I’d be able to eat in that timeframe. So this recipe is a small batch, perfect for adding dollops of lemony goodness to your yogurt, scones, pancakes, or. . .well, you’ll see my other idea next week ;). But, if you need a full batch for a larger dessert, this recipe can be easily doubled or even tripled.

The timing of this post is perfect, as August is just around the corner, which means a lemon birthday cake is just a couple weeks away! I’ll be turning 27 this year, and as strange as it sounds that number has been freaking me out a lot lately. I don’t know about all of you, but as a kid there were certain milestones that I associated with specific ages. And for me 28 was that age where I thought I’d be married, have a big house, and start having a family. While I’m not far off – married, just bought a condo, and have an adorable dog-son – the whole large house and kid thing seems a bit scarier as it gets closer. So while I don’t know whether this next year will bring me mentally closer to those milestones, I’ll keep practicing those one-day family favorite recipes for when the time comes 😉

So here’s a toast to a lemon curd, may it become a family breakfast (or dessert) staple!

Print Recipe

Lighter Lemon Curd (small batch)

This lighter lemon curd is exactly what your scones, tarts, and parfaits have been missing!

Prep Time3 hrs

Cook Time7 mins

Total Time3 hrs 7 mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Healthier, Lemon Curd, Sauce

Servings: 11

Author: Kelli

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon grated lemon
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

• Combine sugar, lemon zest, and egg in saucepan over medium heat, stirring consistently with a whisk until sugar is dissolved (~2 min).
• Stir in lemon juice and butter. Continue whisking for 5 minutes, or until mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and allow to cool before storing in the fridge. Allow to chill in fridge for at least 3 hours as it will continue to thicken the longer it sits. Store in fridge for up to 1 week.