Raspberry Curd

I recently made some raspberry ripple blondies- normal blondies, with raspberry purée swirled through (I intend to post the recipe for this soon). They were an improvised recipe, so I was playing around with quantities. I ended up leaving out about half the raspberry puree I made, so decided to turn the rest into some raspberry curd, something I have been intending on trying making for a while.

The method is simple, and is almost identical to this pineapple curd recipe:

175g raspberries (I used frozen ones)

Juice of 2 lemons

200g sugar
100g butter, cut into cubes
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk

Mash the raspberries with a fork (or quickly blitz in a processor or blender). Push through a sieve to remove pips. In a heatproof bowl, mix the raspberry puree, sugar and butter, and sit over a pan of lightly simmering water. Give it a stir to help melt the butter and dissolve the sugar. While this is happening beat together the eggs and yolks. Once the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved, whisk in the beaten egg mix. Keep whisking for about 10 minutes, until the curd mixture has thickened, and feels heavy on the whisk.

Pour into clean jam jars- this makes about two medium jam jars worth of curd.

 

Other than on toast, I would like to try this as a filling for a sponge, made with some ground almonds and lemon or orange zest. I think I would also like to make a raspberry equivalent of lemon bars with it too.

Pineapple Curd

A friend made some very delicious lemon curd the other day, and it got me thinking about the different kinds of fruit that could be used to make curd. I have explored this a bit in my blog previously, with spiced damson curd and Seville orange curd. April isn’t the most inspiring time of year for seasonal fruit, so it’s a good time to turn to tropical flavours- i.e. something that won’t be grown in the UK anyway. And it’ll get you in a summery mood.  I decided to experiment with pineapple- it had a good amount of acidity that I hoped would work well in a curd. I hadn’t heard of a pineapple curd before, but a quick Google showed that other people have made it with success. Some recipes suggested using fresh pressed pineapple, and others just used pineapple juice- I compromised by using the freshest pineapple juice I could buy.

My recipe started off using an adaptation of this Nigel Slater lemon curd recipe, using pineapple juice instead of lemon, plus the juice of half a lemon, and omitting the lemon zest. While I was cooking it, I found it too sweet, and ended up adding an extra lemon and half worth of juice. Because of the additional juice, I quickly added an additional egg yolk. Despite these last minute changes, it came out as a curd should. I was really pleased with the result- it’s a tangy, fresh tasting curd with a good pineapple flavour. As well as on toast, I have plans to use it as a filling in a coconut cake, and to top some meringues with some cream and possibly some passion fruit pulp. 

125ml fresh pineapple juice

Juice of 2 lemons

200g sugar
100g butter, cut into cubes
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk

In a heatproof bowl, mix the juices, sugar and butter, and sit over a pan of lightly simmering water. Give it a stir to help melt the butter and dissolve the sugar. While this is happening beat together the eggs and yolks. Once the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved, whisk in the beaten egg mix. Keep whisking for about 10 minutes, until the curd mixture has thickened, and feels heavy on the whisk.

Pour into clean jam jars- this made about two medium sized jars for me.

"Seville" Orange Curd

Seville oranges have a limited season, just a few weeks of availability in January. I don't think you can get them in Australia, but in the UK they are usually available in the greengrocers, mostly for marmalade makers. Not being a fan of the preserve, I spritz it where I would lemons. You can get a very good approximation of the flavour by mixing regular orange juice with lime juice, to get the flavour of the orange  with the correct eye-wincing sourness, if Seville oranges elude you.

Despite the winter associations of Seville oranges, this looks and tastes like summer in a jar. I'll post some recipes using the curd over the next few days, so watch this space.


Ingredients
4 large oranges, e.g. navel, zested and juiced
6 limes, zested and juiced
150g caster sugar
4 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
150g butter, cubed 


First sterilize your jar; wash with hot soapy water and let it dry out in a low oven.
Put the juices and zests in the saucepan with the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar. Beat together to make it a uniform consistency.  Over a low heat, stir with a wooden spoon. Once it is heated through, add a cube of butter, stirring all the time until in is melted and mixed in. Continue to add the butter cubes, one by one, until they are all used. Keep cooking and stirring the curd. Once it thickly coats the back of the spoon, it is ready. Pour into your sterilised jar. Once it is cool, keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Spiced Damson Curd, and Some Uses.

I bought a small bag of damsons in a flush of seasonal excitability. A lot of the fruit I buy for this reason ends up as flavouring for vodka, but I had the urge to make something more family-friendly. I don't think you can get much more wholesome then homemade preserves, in particular curd, which has a rather old fashioned feel to it. I love making and eating curd, but I'd never made it with damsons before. I hypothesized that they would be tart enough to withstand the process required to turn them into a curd, and went about my usual method, with the addition of some spices. I was rather happy with the result, which was not only tasty, but also a pleasing shade of maroon.

If you make this, or any other preserve, you'll need to sterilise the jar, which you can do by washing in hot soapy water, then drying in a low oven.

*Update 2709/15- this has been the most visited blog post by far, so I wanted to revisit this recipe- it's a lovely way to welcome autumn. Here are some newer photos:

Damsons, before cooking

Damsons, after cooking

Damson purée, eggs, sugar and spices

Finished curd

Ingredients
300 grams damsons
100ml water
150-200 grams caster sugar
3 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 cloves
100 grams butter, cubed

Method
Put the damsons in a saucepan with the water, and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low, clamp on a lid and let them stew for a few minutes till softened, and some of them have split their skins.

Put a sieve over a bowl, and tip in damsons and the accumulated juices. Push the damsons through the sieve with the back of a large spoon, until you are left with just skins and stones in the sieve. Put the sieved juice and damson flesh back in the saucepan with the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and spices. Beat together to make it a uniform consistency.  Over a low heat, stir with a wooden spoon. Once it is heated through, add a cube of butter, stirring all the time until in is melted and mixed in. Continue to add the butter cubes, one by one, until they are all used. Keep cooking and stirring the curd. Once it thickly coats the back of the spoon, it is ready. Pour into your sterilised jar. Once it is cool, keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Now you can either eat it as it is, spread on bread or toast. Or try it on scones, or between the layers of a sponge cake, with some softly whipped cream. Basically wherever you would use jam, substitute curd. My housemate and I had a quick pudding of Greek yogurt with crushed meringue and the curd folded in.