A wonderfully fruity orange curd. So smooth and creamy on the palate. A great alternative to lemon curd.
Having recently made Seville Orange Marmalade I thought it might be good to make some Orange Curd too. Lemon curd is very popular and is widely available in stores. However it is not usual to see orange curd.
As with lemon curd it is very easy to make and can be done in a few different ways. For mine I used whole eggs and butter, but it is possible to make it with butter and egg yolks though that gives a more cloying texture I find.
Using the zest of the oranges in the curd adds extra flavour, but then the decision is whether or not to leave the zest in for serving. The zest left in will mean a slightly different texture to the curd so it is really down to personal preference. The curd can be passed through a sieve to remove the curd if desired. For mine I finely zested some of the oranges and for others I finely peeled the zest from the orange to allow easy removal once the curd had thickened.
Seville oranges are good to use for making the curd, but they are only available for a short time at the start of the year. They can also make the curd a little bitter if you use too much zest. For my curd I used Jaffa oranges and they worked very well.
The curd can be made in a saucepan over a very low heat, stirring all the time. But there is a danger, if there is too much heat, that the eggs will begin to scramble. So I decided to make the curd in a bain-marie(double boiler). I also used a glass bowl in the saucepan, since that takes longer to heat up, giving the mixture time to incorporate the eggs better without scrambling.
The curd had a lovely flavour of orange and was sweet too. Since I strained it through a sieve when decanting into a jar it was also quite smooth. It is ideal on toast, scones, swirled in plain yoghurt, as the filling between cake layers or in any number of different ways.
Since the curd will only keep in the fridge for up to a month, and some say only two weeks, I decided to make just enough to be sure to fill one large jar or two small ones.
If you would prefer marmalade to curd then I have a recipe for that too, Seville Orange Marmalade.
Ingredients:
- zest from 4 oranges
- 200ml(1/2 cup + 1/3 cup) orange juice, strained
- 250g(1 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 150g(3/4 cup) caster sugar, or granulated
- 3 medium eggs(large in USA)
- 1 medium egg yolk(large in USA)
Method:
- Place all the ingredients into a bowl which is over a pan of barely simmering water.
- Stir the mixture constantly until all the sugar and butter has dissolved and the eggs are fully incorporated into the mixture.
- Gently whisk the mixture, constantly, until it begins to thicken slightly. The temperature should reach about 80C/180F.
- When the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon and a finger pulled through it leaves a clear pathway the curd is ready.
- Decant into clean jars, straining through a sieve if you wish to remove the zest.
- Place lids on the jars and allow the curd to cool completely before refrigerating.
- Use with 2 weeks to a month.