15 Creative Ways To Use Lemon Curd
Whether you made a batch of lemon curd from scratch with the lemons growing in your backyard, or you have a store-bought version sitting in your cabinet next to your other jarred goods, there are a lot of tasty and creative ways to use lemon curd. There are indeed considerably more options for sweets, but there are a couple of ways to use curd for savory dishes, too. And, you don't have to use it only for a lemon cheesecake. We will cover plenty of options on how you can not only use but also finish up that jar of lemon curd.
Lemon curd is usually a bright yellow color thanks to both lemon and eggs. It's tantalizingly tart but satisfyingly sweet, both sugary and tangy — but the flavor and texture of the lemon curd will vary depending on the recipe you followed or the brand you purchased. A fun addition to everything from crêpes to cinnamon rolls to roasted chicken, we discuss multiple ways that you can get use out of your lemon curd.
Spread it onto cinnamon rolls
Give your spiced cinnamon rolls a tangy twist with the addition of lemon curd. It brings a zestiness to a rich dish that can help it have a delicious balance. If you're using store-bought cinnamon rolls, spread the curd on top after they're baked. It will warm against the heat of the cinnamon rolls and seep into the cracks a little bit. If you're making cinnamon rolls from scratch, you have more flexibility to put the lemon curd into the folds and swirls of your roll.
The blend of cinnamon and lemon works beautifully, and you could add fresh lemon zest into the mix as well. Zest a little bit of lemon, combine it with the curd itself, and then use the curd accordingly — or simply sprinkle some zest on top of your baked rolls. For a creamy and lemony cinnamon roll, add heavy whipping cream to turn it into an extraordinary and decadent dish that teeters on gourmet with the moisture from the cream and the brightness from the lemon.
Add lemon curd into crepes
Crepes are an ideal brunch item, but you can eat crêpes for any meal of the day, not just in the morning. They aren't too hard to make — just follow a recipe for easy crepes and you're all set. You can add fruit, chocolate hazelnut spread, peanut butter, jam, or whatever you want inside of your crêpes. These delicate delights are similar to pancakes, but they're much thinner and lighter; plus, you usually fold or roll them and stuff them with other ingredients. Spread lemon curd onto your crepes and sprinkle in raspberries and blackberries for a fresh and fruity brunch.
Have fun with the presentation by putting the lemon curd onto each crêpe and then stacking it up to create a crepe cake of sorts. Cut it into a triangular piece as you would a cake. This lemony and eggy treat makes a satisfying dessert that's not overly sweet. Top it with homemade whipped cream with lemon citrus zest and a little dusting of powdered sugar. You could also add some mascarpone for a sweet, creamy element.
Fill cupcakes with lemon curd
Lemon curd provides a delicious cut in sweetness for lemon meringue cupcakes. Assemble the cupcakes in the tin by pouring the batter into the cupcake pan and bake as directed. Once your cupcakes cool, it's time to add the lemon curd. You will have to carefully cut out the top of the cupcakes and scoop out the center. Then, put the lemon curd in a piping bag to make the process easier, quicker, and cleaner.
Pipe the lemon curd into the cupcake centers and put the tops of the cupcakes back on. Finally, frost the cupcakes with the meringue topping to bring everything together. You could apply the same technique with any cupcake variety or even boxed cupcakes. Vanilla, almond, or lemon cupcakes with lemon curd make a pleasing combination. Strawberry cupcakes with lemon curd are a nice flavor duo that make a refreshing choice for summer get-togethers.
Serve lemon curd with vanilla ice cream
There's something remarkably comforting about a classic vanilla ice cream. Maybe it's because it reminds us of those childhood days enjoying a sleepover at Nana's house where you served yourself a big bowl of ice cream that your parents would otherwise object to. While chocolate syrup was a favorite as a kid, try dressing up vanilla ice cream with lemon curd.
Scoop the ice cream into a bowl and then spoon the lemon curd over the top. Add fresh blueberries or chopped mango for a fruity version, or try it with a handful of mini chocolate chips or chopped hazelnuts for something crunchy. If you leave the ice cream in the bowl for a couple of minutes so it's more malleable, you might choose to mix the lemon curd into the ice cream itself. This will give it a swirly lemony essence so you get mostly vanilla with a hint of curd in each bite. Vanilla ice cream makes a great baseline to pair with lemon curd since it brightens the taste and turns it into something fresh.
Give frosting or icing a tangy twist with lemon curd
When you're looking for creative ways to use lemon curd, you might want to think about using it in your icing or frosting. Make a lemony sugar cookie icing that you can use to dress up not only cookies but other baked goods. Make the icing as directed and then stir in a small amount of lemon curd at a time to ensure it's thoroughly blended and you get the consistency you're looking for. A lemon icing can brighten lemon or vanilla-based goodies, such as a lemon loaf.
Switch up your classic vanilla buttercream frosting with a touch of lemon curd. Add the ingredients to a stand mixer and beat until smooth. Keep an eye on the consistency by adding a small amount of the curd at a time and making sure that it does indeed combine without clumping. Luckily, curd is not as liquidy as something like lemon juice, which could affect the consistency and make everything runny. Once all combined, it should give it a pleasant lemony taste without taking over the entire frosting. Put this on top of almond cakes, blueberry muffins, lemon sheet cake, carrot cake, or whatever you want.
Lemon curd makes a tasty stuffing for French toast
French toast is a perfect weekend dish that makes the average Saturday seem like a regal one, even though it's not complex to make. It's toast and eggs but in a different format, making it an inviting option for adults and children alike. Stuffed French toast, on the other hand, elevates this delightful brunch to new heights. To make stuffed French toast, you can use a thick slice of bread and then make a slit in the center to put your fillings in — or you may choose to make a sandwich and then you dip it in your egg mixture as usual.
Lemon curd is one of the best ingredients to stuff French toast with and makes a scrumptious filling if you're not in the mood for something heavier such as chocolate and peanut butter. Lemon curd pairs marvelously with berries, fig jam, or cream cheese. You can use French bread, brioche, challah, or white bread, or choose to lean further into the tartness with a loaf of sourdough.
Turn it into a glaze for savory dishes
Lemon makes a bitter companion for many savory dishes, from meats to sautéed vegetables. While lemon curd does have sugar, so do many marinades and condiments, such as teriyaki sauce or ketchup. You can mix your lemon curd with other savory additions to bolster the taste. Pair the curd with things like spicy mustard, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, miso, soy sauce, freshly minced garlic, red chili pepper flakes, the list goes on.
Use it as a glaze for salmon, pork ribs, and tofu, or use it to coat vegetables before baking. For best results, make sure that you cover the food in its entirety so it can get as much flavor as possible. A lemon curd glaze is a delicious way to turn your dish into something fresh and unique since a sweet lemon curd wouldn't necessarily be the first glaze option to come to mind. Lemon and sugar are used in many savory dishes, so it makes sense to combine the two for a savory glaze. If you make the curd yourself, you can customize the level of tartness.
Cool off with creamy lemon curd ice pops
Lemon ice pops are a fantastic way to cool off on those hot days when you don't want to run the air conditioner all day long. To create creamy popsicles, opt for cow's milk or switch it up for something like an oat or coconut milk. These are a little richer and creamier than almond milk, but it ultimately boils down to your taste preference. Mix lemon curd with your milk of choice to create creamy popsicles or up the fluffiness by folding in whipped cream.
Blend a couple of spoonfuls of cream cheese to turn it into a lemon cheesecake iced pop for a tangy cold treat. Integrate vanilla, poppy seeds, or diced strawberries to give it a boost in taste and texture. You don't necessarily want cream cheese chunks and lemon curd bits, so combine everything so it's fully incorporated. Gather your ice mold, pour the liquid into it, and freeze. Do a layered version of lemon pops by pouring the cream mixture into the mold until it's halfway filled, then let it freeze. Once frozen, add a thin layer of lemon curd, let that freeze, and then fill the second half of the mold with the cream mixture.
Liven up a cocktail with it
Plenty of cocktails have lemon mixed in or a combination of lemon and sugar, so lemon curd makes a fantastic alternative when you don't necessarily want to make a simple syrup yourself. It can be as simple as mixing lemon curd with your liquor choice, such as vodka. Make a lemon Tom Collins cocktail by replacing the simple syrup with lemon curd. Put your non-sparkling ingredients into a cocktail shaker and give it a good mixing to ensure the lemon curd blends with the gin. You may choose to add extra lemon juice to give it a freshness and more liquid.
Add some basil into the mix for basil Meyer lemon vodka Collins. A lemon curd cocktail is perfect for a summer afternoon when you want something refreshing to sip on. Use lavender for a floral cocktail or muddle the curd with fresh strawberries and vodka for a strawberry lemonade-inspired cocktail. The lemon curd brings a sweet and sour component that can elevate any cocktail. Garnish with a fresh lemon peel or lemon wedge. When crafting your concoction, combine the lemon curd with things that go well with lemon, such as ginger, rosemary, lime, orange, or mint.
Put lemon curd inside of homemade Pop-Tarts
Jazz up your morning routine with a Pop-Tart-inspired recipe. A cream cheese and lemon curd filling hits so many parts of the taste buds. It's creamy, sweet, and tangy, but not overwhelmingly so. Make the Pop-Tart dough from scratch or use store-bought puff pastry to simplify the process. Roll out the dough and fill the tarts with your cream cheese and curd mixture. Make lemon curd, cream cheese, and guava Pop-Tarts for an aromatic combination that's a blend of buttery pastry dough and a creamy and tangy filling.
Use mascarpone or ricotta instead of cream cheese if you prefer to switch up the creamy element. It's gooey, warm, and marvelous, especially if you have it fresh out of the oven. They are perfectly delicious if you have them at room temperature or cold from the fridge, but you could easily pop them in the toaster or put them in the toaster oven to gently warm up. Serve it with your favorite cup of coffee or tea.
Use it to add flavor to yogurt
Perhaps you have a giant tub of yogurt in the fridge that you purchased because you're trying to integrate more protein into your life — but you're not too sure what to do with it other than eating it plain. There are a bounty of ways that you can add more flavor to yogurt and mixing in lemon curd gives it a lemon taste. This way you can customize the yogurt each time without having to commit to one particular flavor.
Scoop out the desired amount of yogurt and mix a tablespoon of lemon curd to start. Add more if you want to up the sweetness or sweeten it with maple syrup. Use Greek yogurt or yogurt with less sugar if you prefer it to be more tart. Enhance the citrus level with lemon, orange, or grapefruit juice and zest. Fully stir the lemon curd, so it's evenly distributed, or gently incorporate it so you get the occasional burst of lemon curd. Top it with mint, granola, or sliced nuts for a revitalizing breakfast that doesn't take a lot of effort to whip up.
Throw it on your cookies
Whether you're a fan of thumbprint cookies or want to make a sandwich cookie, lemon curd can give a trace of tartness to invigorate your average cookie. You can use it instead of jam in place of a thumbprint cookie, or make soft lemon cookies with lemon curd where you bake the cookie and then add the curd on top once it's fully cooled. Don't heat the curd, just add it to the cookies once they're baked. Finely chop pecans to sprinkle on your cookie or dust it with powdered sugar or colorful sugar sprinkles.
If you're seeking a lighter, more refreshing version of a sandwich cookie, rather than using a cream center, spread on some lemon curd and then create your cookie sandwich. This works wonderfully with shortbread cookies, vanilla wafers, or lemon cookies. And you don't have to leave it at lemon curd alone; combine it with raspberry jam or orange marmalade to create a complex flavor profile for your sandwich cookie.
Blend it into pancake or waffle batter
Whether you're making pancake or waffle batter from scratch or using a store-bought boxed mix, you can give it an uplifting burst of flavor with lemon curd. Fully incorporate it into the batter for a lemony batter or gently swirl it onto your pancakes or waffles as they're cooking for a streaked look. Follow a recipe for easy pancakes and then toss in lemon curd for a sweet and tangy contribution. This would go well if you wanted to pop in some blueberries or poppy seeds.
Lemon poppy seed pancakes or waffles are a fancy upgrade when you want to switch things up. Use white chocolate chips or chop up a white chocolate bar for a lemon and white chocolate duo. Lemon pancakes with ricotta cheese offer restaurant-quality brunch that will impress your family or turn a dull morning into an amusing one. Dust on powdered sugar and a bit of lemon zest or add a dollop of marshmallow fluff to make a visually beautiful stack of pancakes or waffles.
Roast chicken with lemon curd
Roast your chicken with lemon curd for one of the more creative uses on this list. It might not be something you thought could work, but the lemon curd element adds a caramelized layer to make the chicken taste that much better. It's tender and turns your average weeknight roasted chicken into a gourmet dining experience without having to leave the house to enjoy it. The curd also works as a coating to keep the chicken juicy rather than it getting all dried out. Keep it simple by combining lemon curd with salt and pepper for a savory and partially sweet dinner that doesn't involve a lot of legwork.
Rub the lemon curd on the chicken and under the skin, then put it in a sheet pan to let it bake. It prevents the chicken from getting dried out because the sugar in the lemon curd coats the chicken to create a caramelized coating. Make it a one-dish meal by spreading thick pieces of onion, quartered potatoes, and carrots onto the dishes with the chicken. Everything bakes together in harmony without you having to cook a symphony of sides.
Mix lemon curd into instant pudding
There are loads of incredible ways to upgrade instant pudding mix to change it into a mouth-watering dessert. Add a couple of scoops of lemon curd as a quick way to transform boxed vanilla pudding. Blend thoroughly and enjoy this dessert as is or turn it into pudding cups. For the lemon lovers of the world, double up on the lemon by placing the curd into lemon pudding. Use cheesecake pudding and incorporate the lemon curd for an incredible lemon cheesecake pudding. Serve with crushed graham crackers for a dessert that everyone will want seconds of.
Prepare whichever flavor pudding as directed on the packaging, and mix the curd once everything's already set. If you don't want to put lemon curd directly into the pudding, you can make layered pudding cups with your pudding of choice. Scoop a layer of pudding, spread on a layer of lemon curd, and then top off your pudding with another layer. Turn your instant pudding into an elegant treat with additional fruit, caramel syrup, or candied lemon.