Years ago when I was an intern at Martha Stewart, I was tasked with baking an Atlantic beach tart. In preparing the recipe — which is similar to Bill Smith’s well-loved Atlantic beach pie with a saltine cracker crust, a lemon juice and condensed milk-based filling, and whipped cream on top — I remember being fascinated by how the condensed milk reacted when I added the lemon juice. I was again reminded of this technique recently when I tested six popular lemon bar recipes to find the best one. Though both the pie and lemon bars include whole eggs or yolks to help yield clean slices, it turns out you only need two ingredients to make a delicious, spoonable, shortcut lemon curd.
Let me let you in on a little secret: Something magical happens when you whisk together lemon juice and sweetened condensed milk. Put simply, the acid from the lemon juice causes the proteins in the condensed milk to coagulate (think homemade buttermilk), but rather than curdling like when you add vinegar to milk, it thickens. Once thickened, that sweet and citrusy mixture resembles a creamy, shortcut lemon curd, perfect for spooning over fresh berries, layering in a trifle, or anything in between.
What Makes 2-Ingredient Lemon Curd So Great
This shortcut lemon curd is a great party trick and especially useful during the warmer summer months. Traditional lemon curd relies on eggs and butter for its thick, silky texture — this version gets its texture from the sweetened condensed milk, making it eggless and no-cook. The condensed milk also makes the shortcut lemon curd uber creamy (you might see it also referred to as a pudding because of the creaminess) and able to balance a high ratio of lemon juice for maximum punchiness. Not to mention, it takes just minutes of hands-on time to put together. Needing only 15 minutes to thicken (though I do recommend longer if you like it well chilled), it’s perfect for when you need to throw together dessert in a pinch.
