Easy Homemade Strawberry Curd

Tis the strawberry season so I’m making this super easy homemade strawberry curd to add to my repertoire of luscious curds to slather on scones, toast and cakes. Quite honestly this is just like the best strawberries and cream in a jar, forget the toast, just grab a spoon!

I love making homemade curd. It is not a preserve in the sense of jam or marmalade. There is no long shelf life. Curds are for now, for embracing the flavours available right this minute.

When people think of curd they always think of lemon curd. Yes, it’s a classic. But even a classic can come in different guises.

What are fruit curds?

Curds originated in England back in the 1800’s when they were made by adding lemon juice to cream. This would split into curds and whey.

Hence the name, lemon curd. Nowadays homemade curd doesn’t contain any cream at all. Yet it tastes so luxurious and creamy, you’d be fooled into thinking that this strawberry curd is full of it.

What’s in this strawberry curd

There are only 5 ingredients in this curd recipe, it’s so nice to keep things simple. Strawberries (or course), a lemon (see notes), butter, eggs and caster sugar. That’s it folks!

How to make strawberry curd

You will want to melt the butter in a Bain Marie/bowl over simmering water (see notes). Whisk the eggs and press through a sieve. Whizz up the strawberries in a food processor and then press through a sieve to remove the seeds. You really don’t want those seeds in your strawberry curd, you want that curd smooth and silky.

Stir the sugar into the melted butter and add the strained and beaten eggs and the strawberry pulp. Now keep stirring that lovely sweet mixture. The curd will come together rather like custard. When it coats the back of your wooden spoon without dripping off it’s ready.

Simply spoon the strawberry curd into sterilised jars, cover with a grease-proof paper disc and pop on a lid.

Pro Tips on homemade curd

Waxed lemons vs unwaxed lemons

You can buy unwaxed lemons in the supermarket. These are lemons that have not been treated with the wax preservative that is sprayed on all our store bought fruit.

If you don’t have the unwaxed type of lemons don’t panic. To remove the wax from a normal lemon simply wash it in soapy warm water, rinse thoroughly and pat it dry. Voila! You now have an unwaxed lemon and the zest will be so much nicer to use for making your homemade lemon curd.

Use a Bain Marie/double boiler

What the hell is that? Well quite simply it’s a glass or ceramic bowl (don’t use metal as it can leave a slightly metallic taste in your lemon curd) which just sits on top of a pan of simmering water. The water mustn’t touch the base of the bowl. It’s exactly the same way you melt chocolate. 

Why use a bain marie? Because this is a gentler way of cooking instead of using direct heat. If you use a pan directly on the stove you could very well end up with fruity scrambled eggs which is not what we are looking for.

Strain the eggs

Yes, I know this seems a bit strange. But honestly for the extra minute this takes it is really worth the tiny bit of effort. Once you have whisked up those eggs it is good to press them through a plastic kitchen sieve.

The reason for this is that sometimes even when eggs are all nicely whisked up there are stray strands of egg white in there. Now of course this makes no difference to the taste of your homemade curd. However, it would mean odd little stringy bits here and there. Purely optional, it’s up to you.

Sterilise your jars

This is a health precaution. By sterilising jars you are making sure that there is no nasty bacteria in there before you spoon in all that lovely homemade curd. Just check out my article on How to sterilise jars before you begin.

Uses for homemade strawberry curd

On toast for breakfast or with croissants too

Stirred into Greek yogurt or swirled through ice-cream

As a filling for sponge cakes or tarts

Slathered on a scone with cream on top

Stirred into cream cheese with sugar as a cake frosting

Use it as a creamy fruit dip for shortbread biscuits

Can you make strawberry curd in a microwave?

Yes you can. Melt the butter in microwave for 30 seconds. Whisk the other ingredients together then add to the butter and stir well. Heat at 1 minute blasts and stir between times till it thickens. Strain through a sieve.

How long does homemade strawberry curd keep?

Curds aren’t really preserves at all in the true sense of the word. While they sit alongside jams and jelly in the supermarket they don’t have the same shelf life when made at home.  Store your curd in the fridge in sealed jars for up to 2 months. Once the jar has been opened it must be used up within 2 weeks. It tastes so delicious mine never lasts long anyway!

Can you freeze strawberry curd? Yes you can. Just spoon it into freezer proof bags or little plastic boxes or jars (leave about 1cm head space for expansion), label and pop it in the freezer for up to a year. Defrost thoroughly before use.

Need more help

Then check out my How To Make Cool Curds page for full information on how to make these simple sweet treats.

This easy homemade strawberry curd really is summer in a jar. It tastes just like the perfect British strawberries and cream. What could be more perfect.

You can make curds out of any juicy fruit. From lemons and limes to oranges, pineapple and cherries. Here are some of my favourite fruit curd recipes.

Apricot and almond curd

Lovely Lemon Curd

Rhubard & Ginger Curd

Cherry Curd

Cranberry Curd

Lemon & Ginger Curd

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.