![Flourless Chocolate Cake](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/02/16/dining/11korex-chocolate/merlin_200212497_081f3ab6-1907-4e1c-aee9-6027e118b9db-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Olive Oil Lemon Curd
![Olive Oil Lemon Curd](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/11/24/dining/19HANUKKAHrex3/merlin_197671413_bbf746f7-361b-4301-8c48-11eca09d1e59-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 10 minutes, plus cooling and 1 hour’s chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 1cup/240 milliliters freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4 to 6 lemons)
- 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
- 3large eggs
- 1egg yolk
- 2teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
- Pinch of kosher salt
- ½cup/120 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation
- Step 1
Place the lemon juice, sugar, eggs, egg yolk, lemon zest and salt in a blender, and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. With the motor still running, slowly pour in the oil until just combined.
- Step 2
Fill a medium saucepan with about an inch of water and bring water to boil over high heat. Transfer lemon mixture to a metal mixing bowl that can nestle into top of the saucepan without touching the water. Reduce heat to medium-low and, using a potholder or towel to protect your hands, whisk constantly until the curd thickens and looks like mayonnaise, 6 to 10 minutes. Do not overcook. (If you have a double boiler, you can use that here instead of the pot and the bowl.)
- Step 3
Remove bowl from the heat and inspect the curd. If you see hard bits of coagulated egg, strain the curd through a fine mesh sieve, pressing with a rubber spatula. (If it looks smooth, you can skip this step.) Transfer curd to a container and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal. Let the curd cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour.
- To make the curd in the microwave, pour the lemon-olive oil mixture from the blender into a large glass bowl and cook in the microwave, on high power, in 1-minute intervals for 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk furiously between intervals, especially at the edges. Reduce power to 70 percent and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes (stirring every minute), until the curd thickens and looks slightly puffed and spongy. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and let the curd cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Yum! I used half the sugar (we like tart) with Meyer lemons and Meyer lemon olive oil from Ranch Olivos. The texture is fabulously smooth and light. So yummy! Happy Chanukah!
Very similar to David Leibovitz's Tarte au citron, but no-cow. Definitely strain. Bake in pre-baked KA almond flour lemon bar crust using olive oil for the fat, should bake in 6-10 minutes.
love this! used trader joe’s regular extra virgin olive oil and meyer lemons. didn’t time exactly, but pretty sure it took longer than 10 minutes to thicken, but well worth it. hard to describe exactly how the taste it differs from a traditional curd — both are delicious.
Used 1 T lemon zest. Cut to 3/4 cup sugar. Substituted about half the lemon juice with lime juice. Added all ingredients to the top of the double boiler and blended it there with immersion blender. No need to strain - totally smooth. Cooled the curd in the pan I cooked it in by placing it in cold water in a larger pan.
My most cherished NYT recipe! Every time I make a batch for some thing, the next day I end up having to make a second one because I haven’t quite gotten my fill. I use around 1/3 of a cup of sugar and find it perfectly tart and beautiful over strained Greek yogurt.
I’m lactose intolerant and truly appreciate this curd hack. :) 5 stars for the end result, 4 stars for the recipe as written. It definitely takes longer than 10 minutes to get the curd thick like mayonnaise. It’s really excellent when finished—I didn’t realize until I made it this way that butter ultimately sort of dulls (clouds?) the crispness and sharpness of the lemon, while the olive oil seems to create a cleaner finish with a more lemon-forward (forgive me) flavor. Excellent.
Olive oil! Brilliant! Less sugar and Meyer lemons are a must. Duck eggs are the best, if you have access to them. And there's no better way to make lemon curd than in a Vitamix. Blends it entirely as well as cooking it. I used a candy thermometer to see when it reached 180 degrees.
2/3 C white sugar because I had Meyer Lemons. I would go full til 1C sugar with Eurkekas. I used COSTCO Extra Virgin olive oil. What I loved about this recipe is there's no butter to diminish the pure lemon flavor. The little bit of green from the olive oil is a complement. I used a hand mixer. And I nuked it. Easy breezy and delish. Can't wait for it to cool.
How long can you store in the fridge?
This came out great! I didn’t have a mixing bowl that conducted heat well enough, so I set up my sous vide stick and cooked at 180 degrees in the water bath for an hour. Took longer but no need for whisking and the texture was perfect.
As with any good lemon curd, it should take a lot closer to 20 minutes, if you are adequately whisking and holding at a medium low. I made mine with TJs sunflower oil that had medical cannabis in it for a month before straining. Lemon curd is an ideal medible base for many applications.
Just substitute for sugar in whatever ratio suits your taste.
Until it goes bad.
Really good, never again will I make curd with butter. I did cut back to 3/4 C sugar, and the 6-10 minute cook time didn't happen, it was more like 25-30. Also, I don't have a blender and used a whisk for everything. Still not sure if I under or over cooked it, but it tastes great.
I've made Ina Garten's curd many times but a guest with a dairy allergy prompted me to try this EVO version. As with the butter version, it took much longer than 10 minutes to thicken. It tastes pretty good but is oddly frothy in texture...perhaps due to the egg whites? Or due to the fact that I used a Vitamix which is so much more powerful than a blender? Not sure. I'll see what our guests think!
made as prescribed but there is something uhm, bitter? Could it be that my olive oil was to old? It did take longer than 10 min. to thicken...
Amazing as written. Have also made with 1/2 cup passion fruit and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Double amazing.
I made this recipe exactly as instructed, except doubled everything. I stirred constantly at a relatively low heat for about 45 minutes until it reached a perfectly smooth curd consistency. There were no scrambled eggs or chunks. However, it had a strong, funky/sour egg taste on the back end that was so unpleasant we had to trash it. I’m not sure what happened, but the eggs were fresh. it seems most curd recipes avoid egg whites for this reason, but this one uses 3!!
This was excellent. I also reduced the sugar by about a 1/3 of a cup (i.e., I used 2/3 cup of sugar). It came together beautifully and easily, with no straining required. The taste was amazing.
I’ve made lemon curd with olive oil and with butter. The other day I was wondering which to use. A half hour later I realized I had finished my lemon curd without any fat. Just Eggs, Sugar, Lemon juice. Then for the fun of it I asked a friend to guess whether this version was olive oil or butter. They guessed olive oil.
Whisked it vigorously over a low heat for nearly 30 minutes and nothing happened. Amped up the heat, got out my immersion blender, and voila. It thickened up in 5 minutes.
Olive oil! Brilliant! Less sugar and Meyer lemons are a must. Duck eggs are the best, if you have access to them. And there's no better way to make lemon curd than in a Vitamix. Blends it entirely as well as cooking it. I used a candy thermometer to see when it reached 180 degrees.
I’m lactose intolerant and truly appreciate this curd hack. :) 5 stars for the end result, 4 stars for the recipe as written. It definitely takes longer than 10 minutes to get the curd thick like mayonnaise. It’s really excellent when finished—I didn’t realize until I made it this way that butter ultimately sort of dulls (clouds?) the crispness and sharpness of the lemon, while the olive oil seems to create a cleaner finish with a more lemon-forward (forgive me) flavor. Excellent.
I would prefer with a different oil that doesn’t impart it’s flavor. I’m not opposed to dairy so using butter would be fine with me! I will use less sugar next time.
is there any way to use stevia or monk fruit type sweeteners?-
Just substitute for sugar in whatever ratio suits your taste.
As with any good lemon curd, it should take a lot closer to 20 minutes, if you are adequately whisking and holding at a medium low. I made mine with TJs sunflower oil that had medical cannabis in it for a month before straining. Lemon curd is an ideal medible base for many applications.
2/3 C white sugar because I had Meyer Lemons. I would go full til 1C sugar with Eurkekas. I used COSTCO Extra Virgin olive oil. What I loved about this recipe is there's no butter to diminish the pure lemon flavor. The little bit of green from the olive oil is a complement. I used a hand mixer. And I nuked it. Easy breezy and delish. Can't wait for it to cool.
Excellent as all melissa Clark’s recipes! I cut the sugar to a half and cooked the curd in a pot at rather low heat and when it got dense removed it.
Advertisement