Curd is the Word
Did life give you a lemon? Make lemon curd. It's one of the easiest, most versatile, and yummiest components of citrus desserts. Or try your hand at blood orange curd.
The sun emerged from its sleep in Chicago and we’re having an unusually warm February. No complaints here. The sunshine set me on a baking bonanza the past week, so here’s a recap of what’s come out of my kitchen.
Curd crazy: I whipped up several batches of classic lemon curd, a couple batches of my blood orange curd, and one batch of Nicola Lamb’s gorgeous grapefruit curd.
Lots of sourdough:
A loaf of simple sourdough made with a powdered levito madre (sourdough starter) from Meraner Mühle/Molino Merano. More on this in a future post.
Two loaves of sesame sunflower sourdough from The Perfect Loaf by Maurizio Leo.
One big loaf of no-knead hybrid sourdough (with a pinch of yeast for insurance) using 100% Janie’s Mill Artisan Blend Bread Flour. (Such delicious flour!)
I improvised a super-easy, one-bowl blood orange and pistachio snacking cake, and it was a hit! Stay tuned for that recipe.
Last weekend I made two batches of dough to make Paczki. In Chicago, we call Fat Tuesday “Paczki Day” because every bakery fries their version of this jelly-donut-like treat. I made a traditional doughnut dough and then an extra-special vanilla bean brioche. Nirali, Sarah, and I spent an afternoon frying, baking, filling, and devouring these treats. What did we fill them with? I stirred up an amaretto-apricot filling and tart cherry filling plus lemon curd and blood orange curd for good measure.
I made my lovely husband our annual Valentine’s Day pavlova: A cloud-like meringue with a crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth shell and a marshmallow-y interior, topped with whipped cream, lemon curd, strawberries, and pistachios.
My wonderful friend Kate came to stay with us this week, and I really wanted chocolate cake, so I whipped up a little chocolate cake using Edd Kimber’s fantastic chocolate-rye cake from Small Batch Bakes. I filled it with leftover tart cherry Paczki filling and covered it in a simple dark chocolate ganache. Chocolate craving: satisfied.
A cinnamon-almond King Cake for Mardi Gras!
I baked a batch of Rose Wilde’s perfect oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies from her book Bread and Roses. I cannot express my love for this recipe enough. Like Rose, I always thought that oatmeal cookies needed more oats, and these cookies deliver on that front. Thank you for this recipe, Rose!
On Lemon Curd
Lemon curd is really like a custard, but where you swap the milk or cream with lemon juice and lemon zest. You cook it over heat until it thickens. Then you have one of the most useful tangy components for any dessert…or breakfast.
What do I use it on?
Stirred into yogurt for breakfast or a snack. (Instant lemon yogurt!)
Smeared on toast, a biscuit, or a scone.
Fill or top a cake with it.
Use it to fill a donut (or Paczki!)
Put it in a tart.
Top a pavlova.
Add to whipped cream for a quick and easy lemon version.
Fill a cream puff.
Or just eat with a spoon!
What do you use lemon curd for?
For those who haven’t made lemon curd, give it a try. It’s shockingly easy, and doesn’t take more than twenty minutes to whip up. I recently shared my recipe on Instagram, and it’s turned into my most popular post yet, with more than half a million views. So here is the full recipe.
Easy Lemon Curd Recipe
The first time I made lemon curd, I think it changed me. It’s simple, quick, and so versatile. This one is based on Bake-Off legend Nancy Birtwhistle’s recipe. To streamline things, I make this in one pot, directly on the stove, with everything added at the beginning. No faffing with a double boiler. The key to this recipe is to cook it on the lowest heat for 5-7 minutes until it gets warm and the butter melts. This tempers the eggs so that they don’t scramble. Then you bump the heat up to medium-low and cook until it thickens, which happens at 170F. I always use a thermometer just to be safe.
There are so many ways to make great lemon curd. Here is mine!
Makes about 1 small jar, and takes 15-20 minutes to make.
1 medium lemon
75 g (1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons) sugar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground turmeric (optional, but amps up the golden color)
2 large eggs OR 4 egg yolks
56 g (1/2 stick AKA 4 Tablespoons) butter, cubed (unsalted or salted)
Zest the lemon into a small saucepan and add the sugar. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers. Juice the lemon.
Add the salt, turmeric, eggs or yolks, and lemon juice to the saucepan with the zesty sugar and whisk to combine. Add the butter cubes and take the pan to the stove.
Cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes while stirring with a heat-proof spatula until the butter melts and the curd feels very warm. Then turn the heat up to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens and reads 170F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5-7 more minutes.
Push the curd through a fine mesh strainer, put it into a jar, then refrigerate until needed. The curd will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.
Tips:
Don’t fret if it gets lumpy. The straining will fix that.
A pinch of ground turmeric gives the curd a deeper golden color.
Here’s the video:
BONUS RECIPE!
Blood Orange Curd Recipe
I had trouble getting a good set on my blood orange curd, but thanks to the hard-working Nicola Lamb of Kitchen Projects, I figured it out. The magic: a bit of citric acid powder. If you don’t subscribe to Nicola’s newsletter, go do it now.
Makes about 1 small jar, and takes 15-20 minutes to make.
1 medium blood orange
75 g (1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons) sugar
2 large eggs OR 4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp (3 g) citric acid powder (NOT optional)
Pinch of salt56 g (1/2 stick AKA 4 Tablespoons) butter, cubed (unsalted or salted)
1-3 drops of red food coloring (optional)
Zest the blood orange into a small saucepan and add the sugar. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers. Juice the blood orange.
Add the salt, eggs or yolks, and blood orange juice to the saucepan with the zesty sugar and whisk to combine. Add the butter cubes and take the pan to the stove.
Cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes while stirring with a heat-proof spatula until the butter melts and the curd feels very warm. Then turn the heat up to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens and reads 170F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5-7 more minutes.
If your blood orange wasn’t very red, you can add a couple drops of red food coloring to brighten it up.
Push the curd through a fine mesh strainer, put into a jar, then refrigerate until needed. The curd will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Looking for a fantastic grapefruit curd recipe? Check out Nicola Lamb’s KP+ newsletter.
Happy Baking,
Martin