What To Consider Before Sweetening Your Lemon Curd

Lemon curd is fairly simple to make — all it requires is lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, butter, and egg yolks. But there are some variables to keep in mind the next time you make a homemade batch. For example, you may want to be careful with the sweetness level.

The sugar is used to bring in some sweetness to balance out the tartness of the lemons, but before you take this step, you need to consider exactly how tart the lemon is. A less tart lemon, for example, may result in a too-sweet lemon curd.

To avoid this, you can start with less sugar than is called for and add more if needed. You can taste test after you mix the lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar in a saucepan but before you add that mixture to the whisked eggs. Start by adding ¼ cup less than what the recipe calls for and then add what you left out if it needs more sweetness.

Another detail to consider when you're determining the sweetness of the lemon curd is what you're going to use the lemon curd for since it can be used in a variety of ways. For example, if the lemon curd is just one component of a dessert — such as our lemon cookies with lemon curd and buttermilk — a less sweet curd should work out just fine since there is plenty of sweetness in the rest of the dessert. Similar to cookies, if you're using the lemon curd as the filling between layers of cake, the cake itself will boast enough sweetness to balance out the tartness of the curd. If you're planning on using the curd for one of these reasons, then you can definitely be a little more reserved with the sugar amount.

However, if you're going to use the lemon curd to spread over classic English scones or as a filling for simple crepes, then you'll want the lemon curd to be plenty sweet since, in these cases, the lemon curd is going to be front and center with each bite. So if you plan on using it as a spread, you'll want to make sure the sweetness level is sufficient enough to complement the tartness.