Ingredients:
3 eggs
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup fresh key lime juice*
1 teaspoons key lime zest
3 eggs
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup fresh key lime juice*
1 teaspoons key lime zest
Directions:
Over low heat, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk continuously for about 8-10 minutes or until it forms a custard. Allow to cool then pour into a jar and refrigerate. The curd will thicken considerably as it cools.
*Persian lime juice will work just as well but the resulting curd will be a tad sweeter.
My thoughts:
Every time I see key limes in the store I can’t resist buying them. It’s a sickness, really. This time it was a bag of about 50 for $1.60 and I couldn’t turn down that kind of a deal-normally a much smaller bag runs about $4-5. Anyway, I didn’t want to make another pie so we had been using the key limes in place of usual limes (even in our chicken salad) until I thought of making key lime curd. I’d never made any sort of curd before but I had seen a pricey jar of lemon curd in the store and thought it looked like something I could make. It was much easier and faster than expected, it was almost magical how it went from being liquid to custard in just a few minutes. I made this recipe a little lighter than most lime curd recipes which frequently call for 3 or 4 whole eggs plus additional yolks. I think it’s better for it, any more eggs and I think the eggy flavor would have over-powered the delicate tartness of the key limes. I can’t wait to make some thing with it, it already tastes delicious.
What a beautiful color! I’ve never had lime curd before, only lemon, but it sounds delicious. I bet it would be good between two sugar cookies. Yum!
What do you suggest using lime curd for? I’ve never had any before.
Let’s see, you can eat it on pancakes, on biscuits, between cookies (thanks Natalia!), use it between cake layers on on tart shells to make a easy tart. I’ve seen it in bar cookies, in cupcakes and mousse.
Found you through flickr. That looks great! I can’t wait to try it myself. I assume the same recipe would work for lemon juice as well?
Any citrus fruit should work. You would probably have to adjust the sugar a bit.
I just bought a bag of key limes the other day. It’s rare to find them in my usual shop…
Am trying to figure out what to do with them (apart from pie)…curd is a good idea…am also thinking of a panna cotta or ice cream…
j
This afternoon I made chocolate fudge brownie cupcakes and had no icing- so I remembered I saw this lime curd recipe and whipped it right up. Perfect combo of chocolate and tangy! Thanks.
Amber: those cupcakes sound awesome! What a fun idea.
your blog is just flat out blog-tastic đŸ™‚
I just came across your website while looking for key lime curd recipe. I have a question though.
Do you use real butter or can you use margarine? Just wanted to make sure because some people call margarine butter. Thanks,the recipe sounds great and I can’t wait to try it.
I only ever cook/bake with real butter. You could try it with margarine, but I have no idea how that would taste or effect the texture.
The July issue of Gourmet has a wonderful lemon curd swirled cheesecake. You could use the key lime curd instead.
You know, I was skeptical because I had tried to make lemon curd once and it turne dout horribly! But this was easy and wonderful! It came out just tart enough to satisfy my tastes. I used it with key lime cookies and they were absolutely wonderful!
The following is a recipe for key lime cookies from the Food Network Challenge. I haven’t tried them yet, but the judges on the show enjoyed them.
~1 cup unsalted butter
~2 cups sugar
~2 eggs
~1/4 cup key lime juice
~3 cups all-purpose flour
~2 tsp baking powder
~1/2 tsp fine salt
~2 cups prepared key lime curd
~1 cup powdered sugar
~Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Electric mix butter & sugar until fluffy. Add eggs 1 @ a time, then add lime juice & mix well. In separate bowl combine flour, baking powder & salt. Gradually add to butter mixture (dough should be stiff, not dry). Shape into 1″ balls & press center down with thumb (do not press completely through dough). Fill center with key lime curd. Bake 15 min or until light brown. Transfer to wire rack & sprinkle with powdered sugar.
( foodnetwork.com has reviews and suggestions for the cookie)
Would the key lime curd go well with the strawberry coconut scones?
re: curd & strawberry scones. I would think so!
Hi, Could you tell me how much this recipe makes? I have a delicious ambrosia cheesecake that I top with orange curd , but have been wanting to try the lime. Also, will regular limes work ok? I’m in New England and key limes are tough to find.
regular limes would be fine…it made 2 8 oz jars.
use it like a jam for my morning toast
Try it over ripe plantains fried in coconut oil and coconut stirred in the curd. Make sure it is a good oil that has the smell of coconuts. You can find it online at better prices by the gallon.
Seriously this is like heaven! YUM I can just eat it right out of the bowl. I used it to fill some vanilla coconut cupcakes and it turned out great!
This is just amazing, I must say, although when I made it, I altered the recipe a bit. Thanks for sharing !
Thank you for this great recipe. I will be using the key lime curd with coconut cake for my wedding cake. Tastes fantastic!