Ingredients
2 large eggs plus 3 yolks
1 cup/200 g sugar
1 cup/240 ml blood orange juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
½ cup/115 g unsalted butter, cubed and softened to room temperature
¼ tsp beet powder (optional)
¼ tsp fine sea salt
2 to 3 Tbsp honey bourbon (optional)
Instructions
- Fill an electric kettle with water and keep it ready to boil when needed.
- Fill a medium saucepan with about 1 in/2.5 cm of water and bring to a simmer over low heat. Place a large heat-proof bowl over the saucepan. The water should not touch the base of the bowl. Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl by hand or use an electric whisk until the mixture thickens and turns pale yellow at about 151F/66C, around 6 to 8 minutes.
- Whisk in the orange juice, lemon juice, both zests, butter, and salt on low speed while continuing to heat the mixture. If the water in the saucepan gets low at any time, you can add a bit of hot water from the kettle. Whisk the mixture until combined, and switch to a silicone spatula, stirring the mixture constantly while cooking. Cook till the mixture thickens at about 165F to 170F/74C to 77C, about 10 to 12 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl with the spatula. The liquid curd should be thick like a custard. Coat the back of a spoon with the custard and draw a line with your finger; the line should stay. Remove and transfer the curd to a container. You can also strain the curd through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth to remove any bits. Press a piece of cling film on the surface and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until chilled. This curd can be prepared and refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month.
Notes
- The beet powder provides the pink color for the blood orange curd, otherwise, the curd will appear yellowish.
- Bourbon/whiskey is optional; if you don’t like alcohol in your curd, skip it.
- If you feel like your blood orange curd is not thick enough, you whisk in some cornstarch. Add ½ teaspoon cornstarch mixed in 1 teaspoon cold water and whisk and cook until the curd is thick but do not let it boil. The addition of cornstarch gives a better glaze if you wish to use the curd as a filling in pastries.
- The curd must chill for at least 4 hours, but it will taste best after overnight refrigeration. The “eggy” taste disappears, and the blood orange curd flavors will be sweet and tangy.
