Blood Orange Curd

in Blood orange, Cakes & Cupcakes, Citrus, Condiments, Lighter & Healthier, Pudding & Mousse

Blood Orange Curd

When you whisk together a simple mixture of butter, eggs, sugar, lemon, and blood orange juices, what you get is a beautiful pink shade of spreadable happiness.

And a stained white shirt.

With the number of aprons I own, there’s really no excuse for that.

We’ve whipped up a couple of batches of blood orange curd in the last month, tempted by the availability and price of blood oranges recently. There are few baked goods that aren’t made better with a dollop of a citrusy curd. Use it to spread on scones, served aside slices of angel food cake, or fill a batch of ordinary white cupcakes with it and watch your guests go crazy over them.

I used the same versatile recipe that I used to make grapefruit curd. And just like the grapefruit, this one won’t thicken with blood orange juice alone – the acidity from lemon juice is required to get that perfectly spreadable texture.

Blood Orange Curd

The color of your curd is going to vary, depending on how dark the blood orange juice is from your fruit. The first batch I made was more of warm pink/salmon color. This batch was a very dark pink, almost to the point of looking like melted strawberry ice cream. Both were equally delicious 🙂

Blood Orange Curd

Blood orange and lemon juices combine to make a beautiful pink citrus curd.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp blood orange zest (from 1 orange)
  • 6 Tbsp blood orange juice (from 1 orange)
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup 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 165-170F).
  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 7-10 days in the fridge covered.

Notes

Yields: 1 1/2 cups (or 12 2-Tbsp servings)

Adapted from Meyer Lemon Curd

Estimated time: 20 minutes

Nutritional Information
Calories: 104.8 | Fat: 8.5g | Fiber 0g | Protein 1.2g | Carbs 6.5g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 3

10 comments… add one
  • Beautiful color! That subtle sourness of blood oranges seems the perfect foil for sometimes cloying citrus curd… because no one likes a cloying curd 😉

    Cheers,

    *Heather*

  • That is so beautiful, I love the color of the curd. I honestly am not sure I’ve ever had a blood orange, I’ll have to keep an eye out for them at the store. I’d love to give this a try!

  • This looks delicious! And not hard at all. I think I can do it while the baby naps. 🙂 Fun idea for a Valentine’s Day treat for my mom and mother in law too (the cupcakes, to thank them for their baby-sitting)! One question – do you think you could make this with margarine instead of butter? My mother in law avoids butter because of the cow’s milk…

  • Isn’t it amazing the bright orangeish-pink color that blood orange naturally tints everything? I find it so amazing the beautiful foods, like this lovely curd, that it can create. This is wonderful, Shawnda! I think I’d use it first to full a batch of cupcakes, but I like your other ideas.

  • You have definitely mastered every type of curd flavor! I love that Blood Orange makes this beautiful pink-ish color. I need to get on it and start using more blood orange!

  • I really need to get back on the curd-making bandwagon. Think of all the stained shirts and curd-slathered scones I’ve missed out on!

  • I made my own blood orange curd recently (http://stitchesandsnps.blogspot.com/2012/01/feeding-friendship-blood-orange-yogurt.html). But it was not nearly that gorgeous color! I froze the leftovers and I’m hoping to make it into danishes this weekend.

  • I have always heard about Blood Oranges, but never tasted them until recently…they are absolutely love them!! Can’t wait to try this recipe!!!

  • I usually hate citrus curds (I know, I know!) but this looks like one I could get on board with. I have six blood oranges coming in our produce bin this week, and I may just use some of them for this!

  • Wow! The color and silkiness of this curd is stunning. I feel deprived that I’ve never seen this before! I have featured this post in today’s Friday Food Fetish roundup. Let me know if you have any objections and thanks for the inspiration

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