Prep Time : 15 Minutes | Cook Time : 20 Minutes | Total Time : 1 hour | Difficulty : Moderate
Hello my lovelies! NZ limes are just coming on. And by coming on I mean are less than the $30 a kilo that imported limes cost. So it’s a good time to start adding lime to everything. I have had trouble in the past with curds. There is a lemon curd recipe on this site that is not my best work. They can be finicky and require babying and are easy to overcook. A lot of modern recipes have a very high proportion of eggs and butter and too little sugar. Yes I just said that. Sugar is the world’s great emulsifier. It brings ingredients together like nothing else. Too much butter will split as the curd cools and you will get a grainy texture. Too many eggs gives the curd too much eggy flavour. In my opinion. It also adds to the risk of splitting because of overcooking. This curd is based on my mother’s recipe. It is smooth and velvety. It is packed with pure lime flavour. I have made this curd as lemon and as lime and both are amazing. We don’t need to add zest to it. The juice provides enough flavour and we can do away with the straining step at the end. We are using a double boiler because it protects the curd from fast or uneven heating. I tend to make a half batch to have a jar in the fridge for myself. I’m the only one who eats it. Scale up and down as you see fit. Remember that it is stored in the fridge so don’t go overboard. If you want to make this through the year, juice limes when they are in season and freeze the juice for using later.
Wash your jars thoroughly in hot soapy water. Rinse them and pop them in a 120C (250F) oven to sterilise. Pour boiling water over the lids. Because the curd only gets to about 75-80C while cooking the jars do need to be properly clean.
Set up a double boiler. I like to use a glass or pyrex bowl over a medium saucepan. I find the weight of the bowl helps to hold it in place as you whisk and holds steady heat better. Fill the saucepan about halfway with water. Make sure it doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.
Put it on a medium heat to warm up while you work. Juice the limes. I looked up tricks for making this easier and tried some. It’s hit and miss. The best bet is to buy limes that are well ripened and turning a bit yellow.
Measure out the sugar. In a small bowl whisk the eggs on their own to blend them. Strain the eggs into the sugar. This will remove any stubborn strands of egg that could cause lumps later.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together until smooth and even.
Whisk in the lime juice. Set this mixture aside.
Put the butter and flour into the double boiler and let it melt together to get a roux-like paste. Check that the water is simmering steadily underneath. Turn the heat down if you need to.
Whisking all the time, slowly pour the lime mixture into the double boiler. Keep whisking until everything is blended.
Cook the curd, whisking most of the time until it coats the back of a spoon. If you want to check, this will be about 78C (173F). It will seem way too runny. Don’t panic. It will take around 20 minutes to get to this stage. As the curd cooks and thickens the foamy bubbles on top will slowly disappear. This is a good visual check on progress.
Pour the curd into the prepared jars and leave to cool to room temperature on the bench. When the curd is cooled, transfer to the fridge to store. It will thicken as it cools.
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Homemade Lime Curd
Prep Time : 15 mins | Cook Time : 20 mins | Total Time : 1 hour | Difficulty : Moderate | Makes : approx. 2 cups
Smooth velvety curd that packs a serious lime punch!
Ingredients:
- 1 + 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup lime juice
- 4 tablespoons (60 grams) butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients –
Equipment:
- Double boiler or medium saucepan and heat-proof bowl
- Whisk and small sieve
- 2 x 1 cup jars
Directions:
Wash your jars thoroughly in hot soapy water. Rinse them and pop them in a 120C (250F) oven to sterilise. Pour boiling water over the lids. Because the curd only gets to about 80C while cooking the jars do need to be properly clean.
Set up a double boiler. I like to use a glass or pyrex bowl over a medium saucepan. I find the weight of the bowl helps to hold it in place as you whisk and holds steady heat better. Fill the saucepan about halfway with water. Make sure it doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.
Put it on a medium heat to warm up while you work. Juice the limes. I looked up tricks for making this easier and tried some. It’s hit and miss. The best bet is to buy limes that are well ripened and turning yellow.
Measure out the sugar. In a small bowl whisk the eggs on their own to blend them. Strain the eggs into the sugar. This will remove any stubborn strands of egg that could cause lumps later.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together until smooth and even.
Whisk in the lime juice. Set this mixture aside.
Put the butter and flour into the double boiler and let it melt together to get a roux-like paste. Check that the water is simmering steadily underneath. Turn the heat down if you need to.
Whisking all the time, slowly pour the lime mixture into the double boiler. Keep whisking until everything is blended.
Cook the curd, whisking most of the time until it coats the back of a spoon. If you want to check, this will be about 80C (175F). It will seem way too runny. Don’t panic. It will take around 20 minutes to get to this stage. You will notice as it cooks and thickens that the foamy bubbles on the surface will slowly disappear. This is a good visual guide.
Pour the curd into the prepared jars and leave to cool to room temperature on the bench. When the curd is cooled, transfer to the fridge to store.
Cook’s Notes:
- This curd is sharp and very lime-y, if you would like something softer, try swapping out half of the lime juice for apple juice.
- Be patient – 20 minutes is not such a long time really
– Once jars are filled, store in the refrigerator for up to a month –
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Nice!! This is a really nice change from lemon curd (:
I was eating a sour-ish apple today and was thinking a green apple curd would be good too!
That sound incredible (:
Curd can be finnicky indeed. Glad you are sharing this velvety bright goodness.
Thanks 🙂 The worst thing is when it seems totally fine and then when it’s cold it goes all grainy – v. frustrating!
Hey there! So do you stop whacking when the mixture coats the back of the spoon or do you still whisk through the 20 minute cooking process..?
Hi Taylor – if it’s showing the signs of doneness like coating a spoon and looking thicker and silky then you should be good to stop and jar up 😁