Raspberry curd is a versatile raspberry-flavored fruit spread you can use to fill cakes, tarts, or macarons. It can also add a bit of tartness as a parfait layer or drizzled over ice cream, waffles, or pancakes.

Recipe At a Glance

Raspberry curd is made the same way all fruit curds are. That means combining raspberry puree with lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar, thickening the mixture with eggs and yolks, and finally adding butter for extra richness and improved texture.

The process is straightforward, though it requires a bit more effort than lemon curd or lime curd because you’ll have to strain the raspberries to get rid of the seeds. That takes a while, but once it’s done, it’s smooth sailing.

Making raspberry curd for the first time? Read the ingredients notes, step-by-step instructions, and tips. Otherwise, feel free to jump to the recipe card.

Ingredients Notes and Substitutes

Raspberries. Both fresh and frozen raspberries work well for this recipe. Alternatively, you can use ready-made raspberry puree for convenience—just ensure it’s unsweetened or adjust the sugar accordingly if it is sweetened.
Lemon. Lemon juice and zest help bring out the flavor of the raspberries. In theory, you could omit them, but I highly recommend including both.
Sugar. Regular white sugar works best.
Eggs. These are crucial for thickening the curd. We use a combination of whole eggs and additional yolks to ensure a rich, creamy texture.
Unsalted butter. Butter adds richness and helps thicken the curd.

How to Make Raspberry Curd

New to curds? Check out my curds 101 article, where I cover different techniques you can use to make curds and other useful tips.

Puree Raspberries: For fresh raspberries, use a hand blender to create a puree. If using frozen berries, cook them gently on the stove with a couple of tablespoons of water to prevent burning until completely soft. Strain the raspberries through a fine mesh to remove all seeds, pressing and scraping to extract as much puree as possible. You’ll end up with about two-thirds of the original weight in puree.

Blend raspberries into a puree
Scrape and press to extract all the puree
Strain raspberries to remove the seeds

Prep Lemon: Wash the lemon under running water to remove any residues. For extra precaution against pesticides on commercial lemons, soak the lemon for 15 minutes in 2 cups of water mixed with a tablespoon of baking soda.
Zest: Gently peel off the zest from the lemon half using a microplane, a zester, or the fine holes on your box grater, avoiding discolored or blemished areas. Chop the zest if it’s in long strips.

Peeling off lemon zest — Use microplane to scrape off lemon zest

Squeeze: Extract the juice from the lemon half.

Extracting lemon juice — Squeeze out the juice and set aside

Prep Eggs: Crack the eggs into a heatproof bowl, add the yolks, whisk, and stir in the sugar. Set aside.

Crack eggs into a bowl
Whisk with sugar

Cook Puree Mixture: Add the raspberry puree, lemon juice, and lemon zest to a pot, stir everything, and cook on medium heat until it bubbles. Take off the heat.

Cook the raspberry mixture — Combine the remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat until it bubbles

Temper Eggs: Gradually incorporate the hot puree into the eggs mixture by adding a few tablespoons at a time while constantly stirring. Continue until you combine at least half of the mixture with the eggs. Continue stirring at all times so the eggs don’t curdle. Pour the warm egg mixture back into the pot and set it on low heat.

Add the hot puree
Mix at least half of the mixture with the eggs

Cook: Cook the egg mixture while stirring continously until it noticeably thickens. As it cooks, it typically foams and that foam tends to disappear soon after the curd thickens. Don’t stop whisking, or the eggs will curdle.

Mixture should be thick enough
to coat the back of a spoon

Add Butter: Once thickened, remove from heat, add the chopped butter, and stir until it melts and blends in.

Add the chopped butter
Stir until butter melts and blends in

Strain (Optional): For a smoother texture, strain the curd to remove any lemon zest or bits of cooked egg. This step is optional, and I often omit it.
Cover: Place plastic wrap directly on the curd’s surface to prevent skin formation.

Cover with plastic wrap — Cover the curd with plastic wrap to prevent skin formation

Refrigerate: Let the curd cool at room temperature until it’s no longer hot before refrigerating it, still covered.

Tips

Keep these in mind:

Extra Yolks for Thickening: This curd recipe is slightly thinner than my lemon curd recipe. That’s usually not an issue, but if you need a thicker one, add in two extra egg yolks. If you’ve already cooked the curd and it’s too thin, beat the yolks in a separate bowl, temper them with some of the curd the same way you temper eggs in the recipe, then return everything to the pot and cook until the mixture thickens.

Cornstarch to The Rescue: Cornstarch is an effective alternative for thickening the curd without extra eggs. Mix one teaspoon of cornstarch with one teaspoon of water, then stir this slurry into the cooking curd. Continue to cook and stir until it thickens. Repeat the process if needed. After adding cornstarch, stir continuously for an additional minute once removed from heat to ensure smoothness.
Adjust Flavor: This recipe has a balanced blend of sweet and tart flavors, but feel free to tweak it to your liking. Taste the curd after stirring in the butter (be careful!), and add more sugar for extra sweetness or lemon juice for more of an acidic kick.

Filling macaroons with raspberry curd — Raspberry curd as a tasty filling for macaroons

Recipes That Use Raspberry Curd

Here are our recipes that use this curd:

Raspberry Cream Puffs

Storage

You can store this raspberry curd in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Make sure the container is sealed tightly so the curd doesn’t absorb any smells.

Raspberry Curd

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Cook Time: 30

Course: Dessert, Spread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Berries, Fruit Curd, Fruit Spread, Raspberries

Servings: cups raspberry curd

Author: Marcin Skrzypiec

Equipment

whisk
Hand blender

Ingredients

1 pound raspberries ~450g, fresh or frozen
1/2 lemon medium
3/4 cup sugar ~150g
4 eggs large
2 egg yolks large, about 30-35g
4 oz butter ~113g

Instructions

Puree Raspberries: Use a hand blender for fresh raspberries or cook frozen raspberries with water until soft. Strain to remove seeds.
1 pound raspberries
Prep Lemon: Wash the lemon thoroughly, soaking if needed to remove pesticides.
Zest & Squeeze: Zest and then juice the lemon.
1/2 lemon
Prep Eggs: Whisk eggs and yolks with sugar in a bowl and set aside.
4 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar
Cook Puree Mixture: Combine raspberry puree, lemon juice, and zest in a pot. Heat until it bubbles then remove from heat.
Temper Eggs: Slowly mix the hot puree into the eggs to avoid curdling. Return the mixture to the pot.
Cook: Stir the mixture on low heat until it noticeably thickens.
Add Butter: Off the heat, add chopped butter and stir until melted and incorporated.
4 oz butter
Strain (Optional): Optionally strain the curd for a smoother texture.
Cover & Cool: Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent skin formation.
Refrigerate: Cool to about room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

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