Tag Archives: Citrus

Blood Orange Curd

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Blood Orange Curd

Blood Orange Curd




I may have mentioned once or twice that I absolutely love citrus fruits. The plethora of lemon posts on the blog shows how much I love them, but my heart really lies with oranges. Back when I was young, eating an orange if you lived in most of the U.S. meant a navel orange. While those are good and I still love them, now, with the world so much smaller in many ways thanks to good methods of transportation, they are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Now, this time of year, you can get in season citrus of so many varieties it boggles the mind. Cara Cara, navel, Sweet lemons, Myer lemons, Mandarins. Tangelos, Pummelos, Kumquats, Clementines and so many others. But my favorite, one that is only around for a couple of short months, is the Blood Orange. Such an ick name for such a tasty fruit. In case you don’t know what it is, a blood orange is a somewhat smallish variety of orange with a reddish-orange rind and a medium to dark red flesh. The flavor is similar to a “regular” orange, but with a bit of a raspberry or even a somewhat winey flavor to it. The scent is intense and a bit more floral. They are absolutely delicious oranges. You can usually find them at any decently stocked grocery store these days.

Since they are in season for such a short time, after I get my fill of eating them, I like to do things with them that keeps around the house for a while longer. This curd is one of those things. It’s made like a basic lemon curd, but obviously subbing in the blood oranges. I personally add in the zest and juice form one lemon because otherwise, the flavor can be a bit one dimensional and flat since oranges are sweeter than a lemon. I also add in a few drops of orange oil at the end of cooking, but that is entirely optional, though I DO recommend it. It adds just a but more of that orange zest flavor and brings it out in the curd itself.

As yummy as this is, hold on to a good portion of it because we’ll be using it in something else that will be utterly delicious in a few days. So resist the temptation to just stand in front of the fridge with the bowl and a spoon. Or just make two batches. 😀

You know the drill… 🙂

Blood Orange Curd

  • Zest from 3 Blood Oranges (about 3 to 4 tablespoons. If there is more, use it)
  • Zest from one lemon (about 1 tablespoon. Again, use it all)
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 6 eggs
  • juice from the oranges and the lemon (you should end up with just about 2/3 a cup of juice)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon Boyajian Orange Oil (optional)
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  1. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Blend in the citrus zest and the sugar.
  2. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, just until combined.
  3. Add in the blood orange/lemon juices, the vanilla and the salt. Blend well.
  4. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepot. Over medium heat, cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches a temp between 170 and 175. Do NOT let this boil. It should take about ten minutes.
  5. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of all the zest and any lumps of eggs that may have cooked too fast.
  6. Pour into a container and store in the fridge. The curd will keep for about a month or so. But we’ll be using some of it up here this week. 😀

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Have You Ever Really Paid Attention To Some Food Words?

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Other than liver of course… we all know how I feel about that one. But I mean really… some names of foods are rather strange and in some cases, can even be somewhat off putting if you don’t know what they are.

Take what you all know are two favorites of mine. Yes, you know what’s coming. Twinkies and Cheetos. Wth? Cheetos at least gives one some idea of what one is eating by the use of “chee” though I guess they couldn’t bring themselves to actually call it cheese since even I am willing to admit that God alone knows what kind of cheese would leave your fingers stained orange for 3 weeks. But Twinkies? What the hell is a Twink that they then turned it into a Twink”ie”?

Then of course we have the much maligned “Spotted Dick” which in actuality is really a steamed pudding. But here in the states, where we have completely bastardized the English language, it has become a name worthy of the type of giggling that five year olds do at fart jokes. And No, I do not laugh at fart jokes or at the name Spotted Dick… I don’t, I swear it!! *Giggles quietly remembering the last fart joke I heard as well as how my husband and I titter every time we go down the international foods aisle and see the can of Spotted Dick*. Let’s not forget the brand of bread that proudly goes by the name of “Bimbo Bread”. I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to buy that. I’m afraid there will be cameras filming me as proof of my bimboness.

This brings me to the recipe for today. Now let’s make sure we’re straight on something. I love a good curd, be it a citrus curd to spread on a scone, a yummy Wisconsin cheese curd to either eat plain or fry up and pop by the dozen into my waiting mouth or ye olde curds and whey, aka cottage cheese in these parts. But the word is rather….disconcerting. Maybe it’s just me though… heck, it probably IS just me 😛 But something about the word, especially in respect to this recipe, doesn’t do justice to what a yummy food (and kind of) curds can be. So without further ado, please put your hands together and give a warm welcome to todays special… CLEMENTINE CURD!!!

This is a very sweet curd. It doesn’t have the tang that lemon curd does so be aware that it will be sweet with a heavy orange essence, not tart. It’s great on scones or muffins, mixed with sour cream or whipped cream as a dessert topping or my favorite way, straight off of the spoon 😀 You can sub any other type of orange for this but if it’s a large one rather than tiny like Clementines are, only use 4 or so.

Clementine/Vanilla Curd

  • 6 Clementines, zested
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed Clementine juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the zest and sugar until the zest if finely ground and well combined with the sugar
  2. Cream the butter and add the yummy smelling Clementine sugar. Mix until fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs, then add the juice and vanilla. Don’t beat this for long; just until combined.
  4. Pour into a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and registers 175 degrees on an instant read thermometer.
  5. Remove from heat and let cool.