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Home » Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping

Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping

February 22, 2018 by Debi 28 Comments

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Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping is a creamy lightly lemon custard pie with a nice tart lemon curd topping. And a pretty easy to make pie as well. This one is a keeper, just like Grandma said it would be!

a slice of lemon custard pie on a plate in front of the whole pie in the background.
Don’t forget to pin this recipe!

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Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask.

Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie - the whole pie that hasn't been cut into yet garnished with lemon zest

Grandmas’ recipes

Some of my friends and I got together and thought we would share some of our Grandmas’ recipes.

Make sure you scroll down to see all the delicious and amazing recipes from our Grandmas!

Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie close up picture with the curd layer visible straight onto the slice

Handwritten cookbooks

You know, this was a lot of fun for me.

I went back and did a little research before working on my recipe.

Back before I wrote a blog, I use to make recipe books by hand. There was a new one every Christmas, for maybe 4 or 5 years in a row.

One of those books I dedicated to my family’s recipes.

Looking through those books inspired me to share some of those recipes. Take a look back at my Skinny Potato and Onion Bake (one of my favorites!), and my mom’s Creamy Chicken Pimento Spread and Crescent Chicken Squares.

Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie a slice of pie garnished with lemon slices served next to the whole pie and some whole lemons

Recipe Notes

This is a simple custard pie, with a light lemony flavor.

I like to just pour the filling into the uncooked pie and bake it all together. I prefer a little bit of a pie soaked crust.

But, if you prefer to pre-bake the crust, and get a crisper crust, please feel free.

The topping is a simple lemon curd, the kind Granny used to make.

While you’re cooking it, it may develop little lumps, that’s ok, they will work themselves out as it cooks.

The food coloring in the lemon curd is totally optional. It makes a nice pretty yellow color. I’ve used it in all my pictures of this pie.

 Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping - Grandma's Favorite Recipes Collage
Pin Granny’s collection!

Check out all the delicious recipes from our Grandmas:

  • Grandma’s War Time Peanut Drop Cookies from Lovefoodies
  • Granny’s Ooey Gooey Oatmeal Bars from Who Needs A Cape?
  • Grandma’s Light-as-a-Feather Doughnut Recipe from Blessed Beyond Crazy
  • Granny Gertrude’s Blueberry Rice Pudding from Hot Eats and Cool Reads
  • Grandma’s Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake from Savory Experiments

a slice of pie on a white plate in front of the whole pie, slices of lemon on the plate.

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Grandma's Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping is a creamy lightly lemon custard pie with a nice tart lemon curd topping long pin for Pinterest

Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping Recipe

Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie close up picture with the curd layer visible straight onto the slice

Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping

Debi
Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping is easy to make and really pretty to look at. Not to mention that it’s lemony delicious!
4.78 from 35 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 1 hour hr
Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10 servings
Calories 270 kcal

Ingredients
  

Lemon Custard Pie:

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine grain salt
  • 1 homemade or store-bought Pie Crust in a deep dish pie pan unbaked

Lemon Curd Topping:

  • ½ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar divided use
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup + 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 2 to 3 drops yellow food coloring optional
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325° F.
  • Pour the milk in a small saucepan, and over a medium heat, bring to a simmer.
  • While the milk is heating, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon extract, and salt together in a large bowl, and gradually add the hot milk to the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Pour the custard into the prepared pie crust.
  • Bake, about 25-35 minutes, or until the center of the custard is set, but still jiggles a bit, like gelatin. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack, then refrigerate. Once the pie is cold, begin the lemon curd topping.
  • For lemon curd topping, combine ½ cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt, and water in a small saucepan, stirring until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, about 2 minutes. Remove sugar mixture from heat, and stir in butter, lemon zest, and food coloring, if using until butter is melted. Gently stir in lemon juice. Let lemon curd cool to room temperature, about ½ hour. Pour lemon curd topping over cooled custard pie. Refrigerate overnight.

Nutrition

Calories: 270kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 5gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 116mgSodium: 220mgPotassium: 117mgFiber: 1gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 264IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 76mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

Keyword lemon, lemon curd, pie
Tried this recipe?Mention @LifeCurrents or tag #LifeCurrents!
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Filed Under: Desserts, Easter Tagged With: Breakfast, Cooking, custard, desserts, DIY, Food, lemon, lemons, pie, recipe

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about debi

ABOUT DEBI

Hello! I’m Debi, the girl behind Life Currents where I write about mainly healthy vegetarian dishes. My husband eats meat, so occasionally I share some of his dishes as well. And, I’ll share tasty treats and projects that we do. Read more...

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brenda Dalton

    June 6, 2020 at 10:55 am

    5 stars
    The pie was delish and came out exactly perfect! Thank you. My first lemon custard pie!

  2. Terri Slocumb

    August 1, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    This pie looks great. Tried the recipe though and the custard would not set at 325 degrees. Is that really the correct temperature? It did set at 350 degrees. I can’t wait to add the lemon curd. Thank you for sharing.

  3. Debi

    August 2, 2020 at 6:05 am

    Terri, yes, I bake it at 325 degrees. That’s what’s always worked for me. The pie continues to set after it has been taken out of the oven as well. You are welcome for the recipe. Hope you love it.

  4. Bradley

    December 29, 2020 at 2:40 pm

    4 stars
    I had trouble getting the custard to set at 325°. Ended up baking it for about 45 minutes before it finally set properly.

    Also, it’s not clear to me why the instructions say to wait till the pie has cooled before starting the topping. Why not start it right away?

  5. Debi

    December 29, 2020 at 3:03 pm

    Bradley, I’m sorry that you had to bake yours 10 minutes longer than the recipe says. The instructions have you add the lemon curd to the cooled pie so that the cooled pie helps the lemon curd set properly.

  6. Christine Krueger

    March 27, 2022 at 9:58 pm

    5 stars
    Made this pie! Tweaked a tiny bit. I added lemon zest to the custard and fresh raspberries on top. It was delicious!

  7. Tova

    December 9, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    5 stars
    Would it be possible to substitute agave for the cane sugar? if not what can I use instead of cane sugar?

  8. Debi

    December 9, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    Tova, thank you for the question. I’m pretty traditional in my baking and don’t experiment much with low carb baking or baking products, so I can’t tell you this will work with any changes. I made this recipe multiple times checking that it worked with these ingredients. If you would like to try changing it, just know that I don’t know how it will come out, but would love to hear back.

    I did a quick internet search and came up with some guidelines you may want to consider. Because agave is sweeter than cane sugar, use less of it. Use 2/3 cup of agave in place of 1 cup of white sugar in recipes, and reduce other liquid in a recipe by 1/4 to 1/3 cup; because using agave may over-brown baked goods, decrease the oven temperature by 25°F, and increase the baking time slightly.

    Agave syrup is a brown liquid, and will probably change the color of the pie if you use it.

    As for other substitutes, beet sugar, coconut sugar (also has a darker color), stevia, xylitol, and sucralose can also be used as substitutes.

    I’m generally not a fan of making a recipe fit what ingredients you have or want, but rather finding a recipe that is already what you want. So, if you’re looking for low carb desserts, another website like https://bobbiskozykitchen.com/ or https://thebigmansworld.com/ or https://www.wholesomeyum.com/ might be better for you. By the way, these are all friends of mine, and I have tried many of their recipes and they are all great!

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Hello! I’m Debi, the girl behind Life Currents where I write about mainly healthy vegetarian dishes. My husband eats meat, so occasionally I share some of his dishes as well. And, I’ll share tasty treats and projects that we do. Read More >>>

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