Ideas for using lemon curd or lemon cream

If you like lemon flavor and enjoy baking, lemon curd will surely fit wonderfully into your kitchen. Lemon curd is a typical English cream. Its color tends to be a more intense yellow than pastry cream, it has acreamy but light texture and a noticeable, tasty lemon flavor.

If you're looking for an easy recipe to make lemon curd at home I recommend the one you'll find here.

But you should know that you can also find high-quality packaged lemon curd. Personally I'm in love with lemon curd Tiptree, not only for the quality of its ingredients and its flavor, but also because, once opened, it keeps wonderfully in the fridge for weeks (if you manage not to finish it before that, of course).

But let's get to today's topic: How to use lemon curd? I hope the ideas that follow inspire you and invite you to try it at home.

Lemon curd Tiptree and brick pastry tartlet recipe with red fruits

Recipes for using lemon curd

1. Cookies with lemon curd

If you're someone who bakes cookies at home, a great option is to shape the dough like a little boat to add a bit of lemon curd on top before baking (use very little cream, since it will become more liquid with the heat). You'll see that you get cookies similar to those you find at the bakery and that they'll disappear at home.

2. Crêpe cake with lemon cream

A recipe to enjoy at any afternoon snack. You just have to make some delicious crêpes (Nothing easier!) and stack them while spreading the cream between each one. I leave you the recipe here for crêpe cake with lemon cream. Naturally, you can also make individual crepes and fill each one with lemon cream (serve it with whipped cream, you'll see what a great pleasure).

Crêpe cake recipe with lemon cream and mini-chiffon cakes

3. Yogurt or mató/cottage cheese cups with lemon cream

If you want to surprise your guests with a super quick, light, and fresh dessert, I recommend preparing cups of Greek yogurt with lemon cream. Here's how: place a tablespoon or two of lemon curd at the bottom of a glass or bowl; pour Greek yogurt over the cream (or, if unavailable, a good plain yogurt), and garnish with some lemon zest shavings. Chill in the fridge and serve at dessert time — a delight!

Similarly with cottage cheese, mató or recuit, serving it in a plate or bowl bathed in lemon curd creates a delicious contrast.

4. Tartlets with red fruits

Brick pastry tartlets (you can also use filo pastry) filled with lemon curd and accompanied by red fruits. I won't say more, the photos speak for themselves... (you can find the recipe here).

5. In sponge cakes

Make any basic sponge cake you know and incorporate lemon curd to give it a lemony touch. You can add lemon curd as decoration on top, or cut the cake in half (I recommend using a cake slicer) and make a lemon cream filling. You can also mix lemon curd into the batter and swirl it, like making a zebra cake but with lemon cream instead of chocolate — you'll see each bite tastes of lemon!

6. Lemon bundt cake

I encourage you to make the classic lemon cake in bundt form that we have here, and swap the lemon glaze for lemon curd. You'll find the intensity of flavor refreshing and delicious. Also as a filling — you can add lemon curd to the batter so the heart of the cake has an intense lemon flavor.

Lemon bundt cake recipe and homemade muffins

7. Mini lemon chiffon cakes

If you look at the recipe for the mini-delights you'll see here, you'll notice a lemon glaze is added after baking. What I suggest is replacing that glaze with a few drops of lemon curd. The other option is to insert lemon curd inside the mini-chiffons... It will be the surprise after the first bite!

8. Muffins and cupcakes with a lemon heart

I'm sure you've tried or made filled muffins before. Would you like that filling to be the intense flavor of lemon curd? You can do two things: bake the muffins normally and insert lemon curd inside after baking, or mix a couple of tablespoons of lemon curd into the batter before baking and integrate it well. The choice is yours; I leave you the homemade muffin recipe here, or directly this delicious recipe for lemon curd cupcakes with meringue.

Cupcake recipe with lemon curd and meringue

9. Toasts with lemon curd

Nothing simpler, in my opinion! Many people use lemon curd like a jam. So I invite you to do the same: prepare a toast with good thick-sliced bread and spread it with lemon curd. It will become your new favorite breakfast and snack.

10. Puff pastry bites with lemon cream and fruit

If you want an easy and impressive recipe, just buy puff pastry, cut it into squares of about 12 cm and fold the edges of each one to make mini-tartlets. Place them on a baking tray, add weights on top (dried chickpeas or baking beads) and bake until golden. Now for the filling: place a bit of lemon curd in each and add pieces of cut fruit on top. You can make puff pastry bites with different fruits: strawberries, peach, red apple, mandarin, red berries...

You can also choose to add nothing but lemon curd. In that case, I recommend dusting the lemon bites with a little powdered sugar to finish them off.

Puff pastry bites made with the Betty Bossi Wonderbox mold

I hope these ideas have inspired you. If you have others, we'll be delighted to hear them! Leave them in the comments, we appreciate the inspiration!