Grapefruit Curd

in Cakes & Cupcakes, Citrus, Condiments, Grapefruit, Pudding & Mousse

Grapefruit Curd

For me, grapefruit has been an acquired taste. My mom frequently ate half a grapefruit sprinkled with sugar for breakfast. And I frequently scoffed at her “old people food.” Food that she’d probably throw at me if she ever heard me refer to her as old 🙂

Now that I’m… older, I’ve grown to appreciate the fruit in many forms: broiled, margarita form, cookie form, and cake form. But let’s be honest – mostly in margarita form.

An absolutely delicious way to use up half a grapefruit is to make grapefruit curd, a smooth, citrusy, and tart concoction that you can smear over angel food cake, toast, biscuits, or scones. It makes a great cake filling, too.

Grapefruit juice alone isn’t acidic enough to thicken into the creamy deliciousness that you know as a citrus curd so you have to add a little lemon juice. A fact I discovered years ago before finding this recipe, after wasting 8 egg yolks and 2 sticks of butter in a mixture that just wouldn’t thicken.

The color of your curd will depend on the color of your grapefruit. This batch was a very pale, orangey yellow. A previous batch was from a beautiful ruby Texas Rio Star grapefruit and it was a pinkish, salmon color.

Grapefruit Curd

A smooth, citrusy, and tart concoction that you can smear over angel food cake, toast, or scones.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp grapefruit zest (about 1/2 a large grapefruit)
  • 6 Tbsp grapefruit juice (about 1/2 a large grapefruit)
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 stick of butter, cut into 4 pieces

Instructions

  1. Whisk the zest, juices, sugar, and eggs in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Add butter and whisk constantly, until thickened and smooth (a thermometer should read 160-170F).
  2. Strain curd through a fine sieve set over another bowl. Serve warm or cover surface of curd with wax paper and cool completely.
  3. Curd will keep a week in the fridge covered.

Notes

Yields: 1 1/2 cups

Adapted from Meyer Lemon Curd

Estimated time: 20 minutes

18 comments… add one
  • I’ve made lemon and raspberry curd before but I’ve never thought about making it with grapefruit. I bet this would be delicious in a cake or a cupcake as well!

  • I just wish the word ‘curd’ sounded as beautiful as this stuff tastes.

  • Neat! Lemon and lime curd are the only flavours I’ve tried! This sounds lovely.

  • This sounds wonderful. I love lemon curd and the grapefruit has such a nice tang to it.

  • This is lovely. I am bored of having my toast with those strawberry or orange jam.
    This grapefruit curb looks so yummy. I hope it is sweet, I always prefer sweeter spread for my toast. 🙂

  • This looks so beautiful with the zest sprinkled throughout. I’ve made grapefruit curd before but never could figure out what to really put it on – thanks for the good ideas!

  • For some reason, the word curd has always bothered me. And for years, made me NOT want to eat anything called curd. Then, I wisened up and tried lemon curd and we’ve had a love affair ever since. I’m dying to try this recipe! If lemon curd tastes amazing, this has to be just as good, if not better! And it’s a great spread for holiday treats. I’ll be testing this out for sure!

  • I think this would be a really lovely gift. Thanks for sharing this, the lower acidity of grapefruit would have never occurred to me.

  • I’m with Branny- “curd” is not a very appetizing word. I may have to get over it, though, and try this… spread. It’s looks delicious!

  • I looooove citrus curds. That tip about the acidity is so genius! I will definitely keep that in mind. Major props–this is a beautiful post about an absolutely delicious recipe 🙂

  • I MUST try this with angel food cake! I have alwats loved grapefruit – does that make me an old soul?

  • I fell in love with grapefruit at an oldER age also…and now I’m smitten. Plus i love just about anything in curd form!

  • Oooh- this looks glorious. What a great way to use up the tasty citrus fruit this time of year. Can’t wait to try this!

  • Wow! Thanks for sharing. I just made my first batch o grapefruit curd – before looking at this. It is indeed a little runny, but still tastes fabulous. I’ll add lemon juice next time! thanks

  • Sevina

    Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it yesterday and it is GORGEOUS. Made a few changes by using 3 eggs and upped the sugar to 1/2 cup and salt to 1/4 tsp. This stuff is delicious on an angel food cake (as pictured) or even straight out of the bowl. I made the mistake of cooking a little too long (wanted to make sure it was thick enough), and it started cooking out the egg. But running it through a fine mesh strainer took care of the little egg pieces and it was still to-die-for delicious.

  • Hello! I’ve made this recipe a couple times now and it’s delicious and a family favourite. My only recommendation is to use unsalted butter. I made that mistake once and it was off-putting. Thanks again!

  • Lara

    So I know this recipe was posted in 2011 but I just had to comment even though it has been so long. I pinned this 4 years ago and have been wanting to make it since then. Lemon curd is always too “lemon-y” for me so I was sure I would like this better. I was right! It is amazing! Thanks so much for the recipe. So many other recipes call for egg yolks so I found this one easier. I even halved it because I live alone and figured I wouldn’t need the whole batch. Thanks so much for posting this 5 years ago! So tasty. Now I have to go make some biscuits…

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