Our Lemon Dessert Sauce is a little bit of heaven in a jar! Sweet, lemony, tangy and creamy, what more could we ask of a lemon sauce? Made with fresh lemons, this creamy sauce is rich and custard-like with a good balance of sweet-tart flavor. It’s everything you love in a lemon curd but with a thinner, pourable consistency.
Reward yourself and stir up a batch of this delicious lemon dessert sauce and keep a stand-by supply in the fridge for a quick dessert.
This is a great lemon sauce for cheesecake or to top your morning yogurt and lemon poppyseed scones.
❤️ Here is Why This Recipe Works
- This sweet lemon sauce recipe is quick and easy to make. It is a sauce that you can pull together in an emergency to transform a ho-hum vanilla ice cream into an elegant dessert.
- Fresh lemon flavor: The sauce has a bright zingy flavor that isn’t overpowered by too much sugar.
- Thick but pourable. Unlike our thick lemon curd, this lemon custard sauce is thin enough to pour over ice cream, fruit, or slices of cheesecake, yet it is still thick enough to coat each bite.
? The Ingredients
Here is a list of the simple ingredients you will need for this sweet lemon dessert sauce. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for all the details.
- Eggs. Use whole eggs in this sauce. If you want a richer, thicker sauce, make our egg yolks lemon curd.
- Sugar. Regular granulated sugar.
- Salt. A small amount of salt balances the sweetness and brings out the citrusy flavor of the lemon.
- Lemons. Use the zest and the juice from fresh lemons.
- Butter. The butter gives the sauce a rich flavor.
How to Make It
Here is a brief overview to get an idea of what to expect when making lemon sauce for cheesecake or any other dessert. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for all the details.
- Cook the sauce over medium-low heat in a small saucepan until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the butter.
- Pour the sauce through a fine metal strainer and discard any lumps that get left behind.
- Press plastic wrap over the top of the sauce and refrigerate until chilled.
Check the printable recipe card below for all the details!
How to Use Lemon Dessert Sauce
This lemon custard sauce is an easy recipes that will add a burst of flavor to everything from our lemon cake roll to lavender panna cotta. Here are a few more ideas.
- Use this lemon sauce for homemade gingerbread or pumpkin bread pudding.
- Spoon it over a dish of fresh blueberries or a fresh fruit salad.
- Pour it over slices of lemonade bundt cake.
- Layer it with pieces of blackberry lemon bread for a trifle.
- Fold it into whipped cream for a mousse-like dessert.
- This is a terrific lemon sauce for cheesecake or angel food cake.
- Add a drizzle to top off plain yogurt or our lemon raspberry parfait.
- Makes a great topping for lavender ice cream.
This lemon dessert sauce is gluten-free, so even those with dietary restrictions can enjoy a sweet treat. We would love to hear from you on your favorite way to use this versatile sauce.
? Tips for Success
- Cook the sauce over medium to low heat, and don’t let the mixture come to a boil.
- Stir continually. If you let the sauce sit without stirring, you will end up with scrambled eggs.
- Strain the sauce to get out any lumps of cooked egg.
- For a smooth sauce, add the lemon zest before you strain the sauce. For a more textured sauce, add the zest after you strain it.
- Fresh lemon juice will give the sauce a more vibrant lemony flavor than bottled lemon juice.
⏲ Storage
Store the lemon dessert sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for one week.
For best results, use an airtight container so that the flavor won’t be affected by any other food odors lingering in the fridge.
? More Lemon Desserts
If you love sweet-tart citrus flavors, we have more recipes for you. From a creamy lemon custard pie to delicate lemon meringues, these zesty recipes will help make any meal special.
- lemon ricotta tart
- lemon curd cake
- lemon cheesecake
- lemon ricotta cookies
- candied lemon slices
- whole lemon tart
- rosemary lemon loaf
- lemon meringue pie
Frequently Asked Questions
You can freeze this lemon custard sauce, but the texture will change when you thaw it out. It will lose some of that creamy, silky texture and look slightly separated.
The great news is that the texture can be fixed! You can place the thawed lemon sauce in a blender or give it a quick blitz with an immersion stick blender.
So go ahead and freeze this lemon dessert sauce. You can make it in the summer when all the lemons are ripe then freeze it until the Fall. Pull it out and use this lemon sauce for gingerbread.
Both lemon curd and lemon dessert sauce are made with real, fresh lemons and thickened with eggs. They both have an incredibly smooth and creamy texture.
Lemon curd is a thick, jam-like, spreadable mixture that will hold together firmly as a cake filling or in lemon bars or pies. Lemon Dessert Sauce has more lemon juice and is a thinner, pourable sauce.
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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp This old-fashioned dessert is a delightful mix of sweet and tart. This easy dessert has all the goodness of a strawberry rhubarb pie without the bother of rolling a pastry crust.
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Lemon Dessert Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup lemon juice fresh
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 drops of yellow food coloring optional
Instructions
- Place the eggs in a medium size saucepan and whisk them to break them up. Add sugar and salt and whisk until combined. Stir in the lemon juice.
- Heat the mixture over medium heat until it just barely comes to a gentle simmer (don't let it come to a boil). Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring continually for 12 to 15 minutes or until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the butter until completely melted.
- Pour the sauce through a fine metal strainer into a bowl. Discard any lumps that get left in the strainer.
- Press plastic wrap over the top of the sauce and refrigerate until chilled. The sauce will thicken slightly when cool.
- This will make about 2 cups of sauce. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for one week.
Notes
- This is a gluten-free dessert.
- This lemon dessert sauce will keep in a covered container for up to 7 days.
- If you want bits of lemon zest in your sauce, add the zest after you strain the sauce.
Angharad Llewellyn
Thursday 29th of August 2019
Use only 8 yolks. 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 C salted butter 2T lemon rind Few drops real lemon oil
This is quite tart. A pleasant foil to overly sweet US products. This is Lemon Curd, known to the Welsh for at least 200 years.
Pat Nyswonger
Thursday 29th of August 2019
Thank you, Angharad! I'll give it a ?