Blood Orange Curd
Hello again!! Did you think I disappeared? I was getting nervous too as it's been awhile since my last post, but I guess I've been busy these past two months and haven't found the time to push through and get it together for a blog post. But, it feels good to be back in this space with some delicious eats that celebrate the winter citrus season.
As this winter seems to be in no hurry to be over (sad face!) I find all I want to do is just play in the kitchen. I've been reading so many food blogs and new cookbooks my head is just swimming with ideas, some of which I'll get to and others maybe in time. Time, that funny thing that requires such dedication and focus in order to actually make things happen. But spending the time experimenting with new recipes certainly helps channel my energy into something more productive than giving into endless hours of Netflix and winter gloom. Winter pushes me to challenge myself - lucky me that my creative outlet has such delicious rewards.
As this winter seems to be in no hurry to be over (sad face!) I find all I want to do is just play in the kitchen. I've been reading so many food blogs and new cookbooks my head is just swimming with ideas, some of which I'll get to and others maybe in time. Time, that funny thing that requires such dedication and focus in order to actually make things happen. But spending the time experimenting with new recipes certainly helps channel my energy into something more productive than giving into endless hours of Netflix and winter gloom. Winter pushes me to challenge myself - lucky me that my creative outlet has such delicious rewards.
Which gets me to my recent blood orange curd bender. But what is curd and what do you eat it with? Well you've probably heard of Little Miss Muffet eating her curd and whey, however there are so many other ways (pun intended) to eat fruit curd. It's truly a next level decadent fruit spread.
First, let's talk about what fruit curd is. This creamy fruit spread is comprised of protein (eggs, primarily egg yolks), carbohydrates (sugar), fats (butter), and liquids (fresh squeezed blood orange and lemon juices). The curd is very liquidity at first but as it cooks over the double boiler it thickens up and becomes quite creamy. Once it's the consistency to completely coat the back of a spoon it's done and when cooled it's ready for use.
Originally I wanted to incorporate blood oranges into a birthday cake which led me to developing this recipe for blood orange curd. I layered the curd between the cake layers which provided a delicious subtle citrus note to an otherwise very chocolate heavy cake. A trick I've learned along the way is to apply a ring of frosting around the outer edge of the cake layer to create a barrier of sorts. The curd will be trapped and your cake layers won't go sliding...I learned that the hard way!
Fruit curd also makes a delicious spread with buttermilk scones, and baked into a tart shell. This tart crust is a ground walnut shortbread crust which compliments the bright sweet and tart flavors of the blood orange curd beautifully.
Thanks again for checking back in. I hope some of these ideas inspire you to try this blood orange fruit curd. I'll leave you with a couple other ideas to use this blood orange curd with: doughnut filling and thumbprint cookie filling. Have fun playing with this fruit curd and eating as you choose.
Until next time!
xo
L
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