Eggless Lemon Curd Buttercream
Tart lemons and sweet buttercream are the match your taste buds are begging for this spring. For a smooth, subtle flavor, let’s make an eggless lemon curd buttercream. It’s light, fresh, and straight up delish.
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On The Hunt
Josh has been requesting a very specific lemon curd for years now. It’s got to be a bit translucent and look like the shelf stable stuff you’ll find at chain restaurants and stuff. Ya know what I’m talking about?
The traditional egg based curd wasn’t checking the boxes, so I decided to try an eggless lemon curd. While it ended up being a bit tart, the texture and appearance was spot on!
Now What?
Woohoo! Nailed that random baking request, but what am I going to do with this batch of eggless lemon curd? To counter the tartness, I figured I’d mix it into a batch of American buttercream.
I needed to make a cake for a friend’s special event, so a full batch of lemon curd buttercream would be super helpful. Fast forward, the event had to be canceled. No biggie, but now ya girl has 3 pounds of buttercream to use up.
Making Lemon Curd Buttercream
This is definitely a bit extra when compared to just adding lemon zest, juice or extract, but it’s really not that complicated. One day, make the eggless lemon curd, then cover and chill overnight.
The next day, you make a batch of American buttercream, almost as normal. However, instead of adding liquid to get a good consistency, add lemon curd a plop at a time until you’ve got a good flavor and consistency. Food coloring is totes optional.
Top Tips for American Buttercream
- Beat the butter alone on a medium speed for 8- 10 minutes to get it super pale and fluffy.
- Warm up your liquid (cream, milk, water, etc.) slightly to get a smooth buttercream. Cold liquid can curdle the frosting.
- Once you begin adding the powdered sugar, never go above a medium speed to avoid too many air bubbles.
- Add a pinch of salt to cut the sweetness.
Related Reading: Lemon Meringue Pie
Storing Eggless Lemon Curd Buttercream
Honestly, this advice is going to work for just about any buttercream you whip up. First, I decided to divide the frosting into a couple of portions. Each one was sealed up in a freezer bag and stashed in the freezer.
Buttercream can last for several months like this. When I needed some, I let it defrost in the fridge or on the counter. Here are some yummy ways to use it…
Cupcakes or Cake
This one is a no brainer. The first thing my mind goes to when I think of buttercream is cake! I used about a third of the batch to create these gorgeous cupcakes. They are vanilla cupcakes and I added a bit more neon yellow color to make it pop.
If you end up with extra lemon curd, it would make a great filling too! I only had a few tablespoons leftover though, so I didn’t do this.
Cookies
Ben’s favorite cookies are the Lofthouse sugar cookies with the frosting and sprinkles. You know the ones, I guarantee it. Anywho, I used the Sugar Geek Show recipe, but used another third of this lemon curd buttercream to frost them.
Y’all this was a delicious combo! I brought them to game night and they got gobbled up pretty quickly. Another good cookie option would be macarons.
Enjoy!
Whip up a batch of creamy, dreamy eggless lemon curd for a mellow dessert topping this spring. It’s a yummy frosting for cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. Or you could just eat it with a spoon. I won’t judge you.
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Lemon Curd Buttercream
Ingredients
Eggless Lemon Curd
- 5 oz sugar
- 2 Tbsps cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 fl oz milk
- 4 fl oz water
- 4 fl oz lemon juice
- 2 Tbsps unsalted butter
- 1 drop neon yellow gel color optional
American Buttercream
- 16 oz unsalted butter softened
- 32 oz powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
Eggless Lemon Curd
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add the milk, water, and lemon juice and whisk until well combined.
- Place the pan over medium- low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. This could take 10- 20 minutes.
- Strain the hot lemon curd into a bowl and mix in the butter and gel color (if using). Stir until the butter is completely melted.
- Press cling wrap onto the surface of the curd and let it sit on the counter until cooled down (1- 2 hours). Cover the bowl and place the curd in the fridge over night.
American Buttercream
- Beat the butter until pale and fluffy, about 8- 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl down.
- Add the powdered sugar in 3- 4 additions. After each addition, beat on low to combine, then bump the speed up to medium and beat for a minute, or until smooth. Scrape the bowl down.
- Warm the chilled lemon curd in the microwave slightly so that it is nearly room temperature. Add a tablespoon of lemon curd at a time to the buttercream and beat to combine. Continue adding curd until the frosting is at the right consistency or flavor. I used about 8 tablespoons total. Taste and adjust flavors as needed. If desired, add gel food coloring to create a pretty yellow.
Notes
- There is enough frosting here to cover a 3 layer 6 inch cake or 24 cupcakes.
My Favorite Products For This Recipe
Colleen
Hi there! I’m Colleen, a novice baker with a passion for learning and improving my bakes… and blunders. On Bakes and Blunders, you can find all sorts of tasty recipes that range in difficulty, but most importantly, I’ll try to explain the reason behind important steps. If you know why a recipe works, you can tweak and adapt it to suit your unique tastes, and you’ll be able to reliably produce some very delicious treats. If you love baking and want to expand and grow your skills, or if you are a casual baker and just need some pointers, my blog is right up your alley! Join me on my baking journey and we’ll learn how to make more impressive recipes together.
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2 Comments
Christy Tolliver
This lemon curd will be great on my macaroons at the farmer’s market because there’s no egg! Have you tried this with mango pureè?
Colleen
I have not tried it with mango puree, but it should work just fine. If you give it a go, let me know how it works out! An easy mango curd would be a delicious addition to macarons too 😀