Citrus Curd

This is a recipe that can be made with almost any citrus fruit! I’ve made it with lemon, key limes, and regular limes. The only downside I could see to using orange or grapefruit would be that it wouldn’t be as wonderfully sour. You could even use citrons or budda’s hand (though juicing such a thing would be difficult) if you wanted.

The one in the picture is a lime curd.

This is meant to go on things, or in things. You can spread it on cookies (would go nice on shortbread), on toast, or pancakes. You can use it between layers of a cake or to top a custard. You can dip fruit into it. You can eat it in teeny tiny spoonfuls, but it’s really strong and really tart, so go carefully!

Makes just over a cup.

You’ll need:

• 4 large egg yolks (save the whites for meringues or macaroons or something)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (white)
• 1/4 cup finely grated, loosely packed zest* from your chosen citrus (“loosely packed” means smoothed down with a spoon or scraper, not squashed). It took five limes to get enough.
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed juice from your citrus. I had extra after juicing all those limes I zested. I saved it. Can always make limeade or something.
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 6 Tbs unsalted butter (3/4 of a stick), cut into at least 6 pieces, chilled

A double boiler- This can be easily set up by putting a cup or two of water in the bottom of a small pot. Rest a heat-safe bowl (glass or pyrex are best, but metal is okay) on top. Put the pot on an appropriately sized burner at medium-high to high heat until it just starts to boil, then turn the heat down to its lowest setting to maintain a simmer. The water should not touch the bowl at all- if it does, pour some out until the bowl is out of it. You’re just cooking with the steam. This keeps the heat nice and steady and controllable.

Combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the butter in the top of the double boiler. Stir it with a whisk. A LOT. You  don’t have to stir fast, and if you’re lucky, it’ll only take 10 minutes or so for this to cook enough. It took me over half an hour, though I suspect I was stirring too fast at the beginning. Every time I got discouraged, the liquid changed a little bit.

It’ll start out getting thinner as the sugar dissolves into the liquid and yolks. Then it’ll change colors a few times. Finally, it will begin to thicken up and will turn shiny. At that point, you’re supposed to be able to lift some up with a fork or the whisk and it will drop in “ribbons”. I found that all the zest in the recipe made that difficult to tell. But when it turns pale and thick and a little shiny, that’s a good sign you’re almost done.

At that point, remove the bowl from the double boiler. Still stirring, add a piece of butter and stir it in until it melts completely. Keep adding the pieces of butter, one at a time, until all of them are completely melted.

Now, get a fine mesh strainer and place that over a clean bowl or storage container. Press your curd through the strainer with a scraper until you can’t get any more to go through, then carefully use another scraper (or the other end if you have one that’s double-ended) to remove the bits of curd that will be stuck to the bottom of the strainer so they can be added to the rest.

You can add it to a cake at this point. Otherwise, chill for a few hours. It will form a skin (like homemade pudding) on top, so if that bothers you, put some parchment paper or plastic wrap against it to prevent that.

Go rest your arms from all that stirring.

*”Zest” is the colored part of the peel. Best zest practices- wash and dry your fruit first. Use a small grater or a zester. Peel or grate just until the color comes off, but try to avoid the white part. That’s pith, and it tastes bitter. You’ll end up grating a few strokes, stopping, checking, and turning to a new patch a LOT. It’s just part of the process.

I recommend zesting BEFORE cutting the fruit in half to juice it.