Zingy, tangy and loaded with the most incredible ingredients this paleo lemon curd slice is absolute heaven. Free from grains, refined sugar, and soy (plus dairy free alternatives too) this is the my new favourite snack!
This post contains affiliate codes which I earn a small commission off. This costs you no extra (in fact you get a discount) and is a great way to support my work for free.
If you search through my blog it’ll come as no surprise that I am a (dark) chocolate lover but my first true dessert love is totally lemon. This time of the year means a total abundance of lemons and I know I am not the only one looking for wholesome dessert recipes to pour all that citrus goodness into.
Enter the paleo lemon curd slice of my dreams. Easy, zingy, tart, sweet, creamy, spiced and packed full of whole foods and wonderful heathy fats. Actual heaven.
Creating the paleo lemon curd slice
I was initially inspired by my lemon tree really- so many lemons that needed to turn into something wholesome and delicious.
- I knew I wanted something quick and easy, and already had the perfect base ready from this previous healthy jelly slice recipe here. I added some ground ginger (because lemon ginger is such a dream vibe, right?) and called it a day.
- Round 1. I got onto the lemon curd. I had seen cultured baby do lemon curd jellies (on Instagram) one time, and got to creating my own recipe around this idea.
- My initial recipe included only 1/2 cup lemon juice and 2 whole eggs, but the result was a really stiff curd that lacked the zing I wanted it to.
- Round 2. I replaced the whole eggs for egg yolks and the curd set beautifully soft and fluffy, but still not quite enough. The base completely overpowered the delicate flavours of the curd though, and the ratios were off. The ghee was slightly too strong too.
- Round 3. I reduced the base by 1/3 in weight and increased the lemon juice to 2/3 cup while decreasing the ghee to 1/3 cup. The base to curd ration was now perfect, the lemon flavour shone though and the flavours were all balanced wonderfully.
- Round 4. I trialled maple syrup instead of honey, and coconut oil instead of ghee. Both swaps were winners, and really come down to personal choice.
- Round 5. I did magi mix and thermomix trials which made this recipe so much easier (and meant to straining the eggs).
What you’ll need for these incredible paleo lemon curd slice
- Almond meal or almond flour. Honestly either will work just fine, and if you need a substitute sunflower seed meal works too (but I much prefer teh flavour with almond meal).
- Coconut flour helps to balance out almond meal in the paleo shortcrust, giving a lighter crumb. There are no great substitutes, but coconut flour is relatively cheap and easily available and chances are if you’re looking at this recipe its already in your pantry.
- Collagen (see below). This ingredient is optional, but a lovely, gut-friendly addition.
- Pure maple syrup or honey. maple syrup is easier to bake with, but honey tastes amazing in the curd. Pick your winner.
- Ground ginger is used to spice the base and is a wonderful addition to the sweet, zingy curd topping. I love this organic ginger here.
- Vanilla extract or powder- optional but always wonderful in baking.
- Lemons– both the zest and the juice is used for this recipe, so where possible source homegrown or organic lemons (or at least untaxed lemons)
- Pastured eggs. Happy chickens means happy eggs, and happy eggs will have gorgeous, vibrant orange egg yolks. I trialled this recipe using the whole egg but didn’t enjoy the texture or flavour, so we use only the yolks.
- Grass-fed gelatin (see below)
- Ghee. Ghee is clarified butter and can be found at most health food stores. The process of creating ghee cooks of the milk solids, leaving the nutrient dense, pure butter fat that is more easily tolerate by most people. You can substitute ghee for butter or coconut oil.
Gelatin and collagen
Our paleo Lemon curd slice used both collagen and gelatin, products which are not all created equally. I love to use Australian- sourced, grass-fed collagen and gelatin with companies that give full transparency on sourcing. In particular I avoid either of these products coming form South America, which support de-forestation of the Amazon. You can read more about that here. The products I use, love and recommend are:
- Grass Fed Gelatin. Gelatine helps to set the curd topping and also adds wonderful gut-healing amino acids into our paleo lemon curd slice. The gelatine I use is GelPro Organic Porcine Gelatin
- Gelpro collagen. As per Jordie’s recommendation I use Gelpro Peptipro which is 100% Australian and NZ sourced, from 100% grass-fed beef. JADE10 gets you 10% off your order here.
Ayurveda, ghee and honey
have you ever heard that mixing honey and ghee together can be a toxic combination? Neither had I until someone recently alerted me of this Ayurvedic faux pas.
I was certainly intrigued, so I did a little research.
Ayurveda is a traditional healthcare system from India and is one of ethnic longest standing medical systems in etc world. Its wholistic principals and many, however is a very brief statement is ‘prevent and treat illness by maintaining balance in the body, mind, and consciousness through proper drinking, diet, and lifestyle, as well as herbal remedies (source)‘.
I’d love to go into the details of how incredible Ayurveda is but that’s another story for another day, written by someone with a lot more wisdom than me.
All that really matters here is when one of the Worlds oldest medical systems has something to say, I like to listen.
And indeed there IS an issue with mixing honey and ghee (who knew!). According to Ayurvedia tradition honey can turn from a medicine into a toxin when mixed with the wrong ingredients, and in the wrong proportions.
The thumb rule is to avoid mixing of honey and ghee in equal quantities. Honey and ghee are not considered an ideal combination. In many food preparations like honey-oat cookies or muffins, clarified butter is often used along with honey, which could have undesirable repercussions on one’s health. Even Acharya Charaka, one of the pioneers of the ancient discipline of Ayurveda, has warned against this possibly fatal combination of ghee and honey. “But it is ok to combine an unequal ratio of two (2:1),” adds the doctor.
Basically, avoid mixing honey and ghee in a ratio of 1:1 by weight (not volume) and ideally mix it in a ratio of 1:2).
Well, there you go. I learnt something really cool and naturally I adjusted this recipe to ensure the ration of honey to ghee is compatible with Ayurvedic practice. 🙂
Done!
We hope you enjoy these incredible paleo lemon curd slice as much as we do. They are just HEAVEN! If you want more heavenly and healthy snack recipes then try out:
- Cream cheese and whey (labneh and whey)
- Grain-free chocolate avocado muffins
- Paleo chocolate chip cookies
- Carrot cake energy balls (date free)
- Paleo vegan chocolate bread
- Raw blueberry swirl cheesecake
- Honey oat banana muffins
- Grain free chocolate chip cookies
We welcome your feedback and reviews! If you have any questions or reviews, please leave them below. We love hearing from you.

Paleo lemon curd slice
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 2 hours resting
- Total Time: 25 minute
- Yield: 9-12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Zingy, tangy and loaded with the most incredible ingredients this paleo lemon curd slice is absolute heaven. Free from grains, refined sugar, and soy (plus dairy free alternatives too) this is the my new favourite snack!
Ingredients
Crust
- 60g blanched fine almond meal
- 14g (2 Tbsp) coconut flour
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or powder, optional
- 2 tsp pure maple syrup or honey
- 45g (2 Tbsp + 1 tsp melted) ghee, butter or coconut oil melted
- 2 Tbsp collagen powder
Lemon curd filling
- 167ml (2/3 cup) lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp gelatin
- 1 Tbsp packed lemon zest
- 6 large egg yolks
- 100g (1/3 cup) pure maple syrup or honey
- 65g (¼ cup) ghee, butter or coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180c and grease and line a 15cm (6 inch) square tin. If you don’t have a tin this small you could make these into mini muffin trays instead (so you’ll have mini tarts). Alternatively, if you have a larger tin (20cm, or 8 inch) you would need to double this recipe.
- Make the crust by adding all the ingredients and mixing together in a bowl until uniform. Spread into the base of the prepared tin. The base will be quite thin, but this is ideal. Use a spoon to gentle compress down, ensuring its evenly spread. Gently prick surface with a fork- if bits of the base lift up at all, lightly press them back down. Bake for 10 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown and starting to be fragrant. Set aside to cool.
- Make the curd
Thermomix/magimix instuctions
Add lemon zest, lemon juice and gelatin to the bowl of your thermomix/magimix (I like to take care to avoid sprinkling gelatin on the blades, to avoid any sticking) and leave for two minutes to bloom (or until the gelatin has swelled and the mixture is jelly-like). Add the remaining curd ingredients on top on the bloomed lemon mixture and, with steam lid off, set for 8 minutes, speed 3, 77C/170F (thermomix) / 8 minutes, speed 5, 77C/170F (magimix). Pour into a jug to cool, using a rubber spatula to really scrape all the curd out of your thermomix bowl.
Allow curd to cool to room temperature before moving onto the next step.
Stove top directions
Add lemon juice, zest and gelatin to a heat proof bowl and bloom for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, add 2cm of water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
After the gelatin has bloomed (it should look swollen and jelly-like) add all the remaining curd ingredients to the bowl. Sit the bowl on the rim of the saucepan, double boiler style (the bowl should not be touching the water ideally). Reduce heat to low and heat for approximately 8 minutes or until the mix thickens and coats the back of a spoon (important: mix/whisk the entire time). Egg will begin to scramble above 80C/170F, so it is imperative to both keep the heat low and whisk the entire time. If you have a candy thermometer you can insert this into the curd and ensure it stays below 80C/170F at all times.
Once ready (once the curd has thickened and coats the back of a spoon) strain into a heat-proof jug through a sieve- this will remove any small lumps, but it will take time. I like to use a fork to whisk the curd through the sieve and move things along. Allow curd to cool to room temperature before moving onto the next step.
- To assemble, pour room temp curd onto cooled base and set in the fridge for 2+ hours or until the curd is firm to touch.To store, slice lemon curd slice into 9-12 pieces and store in an airtight container in the fridge (up to 3 days).
Notes
- Almond meal can be swapped for sunflower meal or gluten free all purpose flour.
- Ghee can be swapped for butter or coconut oil
- Honey and maple syrup can be used interchangeably in this recipe.
Keywords: Paleo, lemon curd
Just wanted to point out it says this recipe is vegetarian but the gelatine makes it not so. I do love most of your recipes.
I will update that- thank you!
I did double to recipe last night. I don’t have the recommended gelatin and used normal old McKenzie gelatin as per the recipe (4tbsp) and it set like a rock. I’ll try it again as it is quick and easy in the thermo. Just dial the gelatin down to at least half (2).
★★★
Hi Laurice,
Thanks for the feedback- I’ve never used that brand of gelatin, so your experience is very helpful. X jade