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This Lemon Custard Sauce for pouring over your favourite puddings and desserts is wonderfully zesty and beautifully comforting at the same time. It can accompany so many delicious desserts from cakes to crumbles to pies and even simply over sliced bananas.
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Do you make fresh custard in your house? I always have the ingredients in so find it easier to make than buy and perhaps only five minutes more time than prepping Bird’s custard (if the latter is your habit).
This Lemon Dessert Sauce is easy to make with simple ingredients, although the milk needs to be infused with the lemon peel for at least 2 hours so you will have to think ahead a little. By infusing the custard with lemon peel rather than juice you are eliminating a concern for splitting. But a further reason for this method is that the infusion with the peel gives a wonderfully floral rather than sharp lemony taste.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Perfect dessert accompaniment for lemon lovers everywhere.
- Easy to make.
- Quick to make too. Although there is a little bit of steeping time for your lemon infused milk but that is totally hands off and no drama at all.
- A homemade lemon custard can instantly lift all your favourite cosy desserts with it fresh fragrant flavour.
- This gorgeously creamy custard can also level up a simple store bought sponge cake, a bowl of sliced bananas or other cut fresh fruit into something guest worthy.
If you adore all things lemony then have you tried this storecupboard essential Homemade Lemon Powder which infuses baked goods and dinners with intense lemon flavour. Or this Easy Lemon Curd which is a million miles better than anything you can buy in the supermarket.
Full list of ingredients needed
- Egg yolks. This recipe uses medium size. Each whole egg (including shell) weighs 60g which is a large medium/small large. Use the best free range eggs you can get, Burford Browns have a lovely rich orange yolk.
- Lemon. Use unwaxed organic lemons.
- Caster sugar. This is a fine white baking sugar. Granulated sugar is okay too.
- Whole milk. Using full fat gives our custard more creaminess.
- Tapioca flour (tapioca starch). This is optional but does help to stabilise the custard and thicken it.
How to make Lemon Custard
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Infuse the milk with the lemon by warming with the lemon peel, turning off from the heat and allowing to steep for 2 hours.
- Beat the eggs with sugar and tapioca flour until lovely and thick.
- Heat the lemon milk to just under a boil. Watch to see gentle movement beneath the surface before removing from the heat.
- Run the hot milk into the egg mixture in a thin stream, whisking all the time so the eggs don't scramble.
- Once it's all added, return to the heat and bring to a gentle simmer.
Tips
- You can infuse the milk overnight (in the fridge) with the lemon peel if you like, it will make for an even more intense flavour.
- Strain the lemon peel out of the milk before making the rest of the custard.
- Don’t boil the milk, watch it heat carefully so that you remove it from the heat just as it starts to shimmer with bubbles forming under the surface.
- Pour the milk into a measuring jug so that when you pour into the eggs you can control the slow consistent stream which helps to avoid the eggs curdling.
- Place the bowl or jug of eggs/sugar onto a damp tea towel on your work surface, this will help hold it in place so you can whisk with one hand and pour the cream with the other without it moving around.
- Whisk your custard continually and don’t leave it to its own devices or lumps will start to form.
- As soon as the custard has thickened then remove from the heat.
- To stop a skin from forming on your finished homemade lemon sauce then you can either rub the surface with a knob of butter or sprinkle caster sugar over the surface or press a sheet of cling film or baking parchment to the surface of the custard.
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How to store
This Lemon Custard Sauce will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Re-heat in a saucepan until it just reaches a boil, whisking well to smooth out any lumps.
How to freeze
Freeze the gluten-free lemon sauce in an airtight container with a sheet of plastic wrap pressed to the surface. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Defrost in the fridge overnight. Whisk thoroughly whilst re-heating in a saucepan to ensure the custard is smooth.
Gluten-free desserts to serve the custard with
- Lemon Ginger Pudding
- Gluten-Free Spotted Dick
- Gluten-Free Raspberry Pudding
- Gluten-Free School Cake
- Gluten-Free Apple Blackberry Crumble
- Gluten-Free Bread and Butter Pudding
I urge you to give this Lemon Custard Sauce a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own culinary creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
Lemon Custard Sauce (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 300 ml whole milk
- ½ lemon
- 3 egg yolks - medium
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon tapioca flour - optional*
Instructions
- Slice the peel away from the lemon half with a very sharp knife, making sure to remove all the pith.
- Place the lemon peel into a saucepan along with the milk and heat until just below boiling point.
- Remove the milk from the heat and leave the milk to infuse with the lemon for at least 2 hours.
- Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a medium bowl until pale and thick then stir in the tapioca flour if using.
- Remove the lemon peel from the milk and re-heat the milk in a medium sized saucepan until just below boiling.
- Take the milk off the heat and then pour in a very thin and steady stream into the eggs, whisking all the while until all the milk has been incorporated.
- Pour the custard mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a very gentle boil and the custard has thickened, stirring all the time.
- Remove from the heat and serve.
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