I’ve just been on the phone to Christina, and I’ve promised her I’d post my lemon curd recipe. Actually, it’s not really my recipe at all – I discovered it here – and unbelievable as this sounds, it makes brilliant lemon curd in the microwave. The first time I tried it, I made five batches, one after the other, because I simply couldn’t believe it was working. I thought it was a fluke and kept waiting for it to fail, but it didn’t and I ended up with 15 jars of lemon curd in the fridge, all of which had to be eaten within a few weeks. Ah well, the neighbours were happy.
Microwave lemon curd
1. Zest two big lemons into a large pyrex bowl. Juice both lemons, and strain the juice into the bowl (you want about 150ml of lemon juice). Add 50g unsalted butter and 150g caster (superfine) sugar. Microwave on high for 2 minutes (my micro is 1100 watts). Take it out and give it a good stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved and butter melted. Allow to cool just slightly.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 large free range eggs and one egg yolk. Whisk well – you want it to be an homogenous yellow with no white stringy bits. Pour the eggs through a sieve into the butter mixture, whisking as you go. Once it’s all combined, pop the pyrex bowl back into microwave.
3. Microwave for 30 seconds on high, then stir. Another 30 seconds on high, stir again. Then 1 minute on high, take it out, and give it a really good whisking until it becomes smooth and lemon curd like. You might need a little bit more time, but in my microwave, that’s it. You can then pour it into sterilised jars and stick it in the fridge, or pour it into a pre-baked tart shell and let it set in the fridge (which is how I made my tart), or you can freeze it.
You can also make passionfruit curd by adding 1/3 cup of passionfruit pulp when you add the eggs. If you’re doing that, you might want to cut the lemon zest back a little bit. Enjoy!
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More on making microwave lime curd here… A Bowl of Sunshine..
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
That was quick work. Thanks Celia, I will make it tomorrow. I like the fact that it mainly uses whole eggs. I was in the process of thinking about having to make meringues as well as my recipe only uses egg yolk. Shall have to go and get some of Frank’s locally grown lemons.
Chris, we freeze all our egg whites – they last for ages and seem to defrost perfectly – then use them for almond bread or friands (or meringues!).
I am amazed. That lemon curd recipe is fantastic. It took me 5 minutes to make delicious lemon curd. I am still trying to work out how it can be so easy and work so well. In fact it was better than the stuff I made a while ago the traditional way. The traditional one I made had lumps. I shall have to make some to make a lemon tart.
See? This is why I had to make five batches. Just couldn’t get my head around it being so easy, especially after I’d spent hours stirring on the stove in the past. So glad you loved it, and hope you have lots of fun with it! :)
Looks good Celia. I think I will make some with passionfruit to go on a vanilla slice I’m making…thanks :)
Enjoy, Johnny! It works really well with lime was well. Nice to hear from you – how’s the sourdough bread going?
Brilliant! I made 2 batches today, couldn’t be easier.
Glad you liked it, Claire! :)
Wow, I am also in shock! I made this and it came out so amazingly delicious. I subbed powdered sugar for superfine. I actually don’t know if they are different names for the same sugar or if they are different things. I am in the States.
Anyway, my curd didn’t even need that final minute in the microwave. It was ready after the two 30-second stints. And right after I made the curd, I had to make some shortbread cookies to dip into it.
Thanks for experimenting with the recipe and posting it on here! I have to send it to my mom now :)
Liza, that’s wonderful! Thank you for letting me know! You can see now why I had to keep making it – I just couldn’t believe it was working.. :)
Oooh, just saw a photo on your blog – it looks great! (I love that Ming Tsai shortbread cookie recipe as well.. :))
Hi, Celia, I really really loved this recipe, and it’s in my favorites now. I needed curd but couldn’t face 1) the double-boiler or 2) store-bought (even the fancy kind) and recalled this post from the depths of my memory….long story short, fifteen minutes later, I called out from the kitchen, “Honey, we can’t throw out the microwave now; I need it for curd!”
I made this curd for a topping on my lemon-yogurt cake the other day. I lightened the whole batch with unsweetened whipped cream (from @ 2/3 cup cold cream), glopped it all over the single layer of cake, then poured 2 pints of raspberries over it. Yummy!
Thanks again.
Hi Shawna! :)
So glad this worked for you, hope all is well on your side of the globe.. :)
Celia
This is amazing, Celia! I would never have thought the microwave would be any good for making curd – I’ll try my next batch this way, after we eat our way through the current lot! Thanks :)
Celia,
It looks beautiful. I assume the method for Lime Curd is exactly the same? Also, do you make your own labels or are they done by a professional printer?
Christine, I hope you like it, this is how we make all our lemon curd these days! :)
Shangri La, aaah, I’m flattered, but our labels all printed on our dinky home printer using a PrintMaster programme (cheap and very good software for printing cards, labels etc). And yes, same methodology for both lime and lemon curds. Thanks!
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