Non-Citrus Curds

[Wendy DeBord]

I'm in a rut, I only make lemon or key lime curd. Anyone have other recipes of flavors they like and would share?

I saw a ad with a strawberry curd and thought that would be interesting. Any reason why I can't use the same base recipe and just change out the fruit juice, balance the sugar and maybe add a drop of similar flavored emulsion?

[Chef/Writer Spencer]

I just submitted a recipe for my tangerine curd to Private Clubs magazine. I do a tangerine curd/rhubarb napoleon with creamy tangerine sorbet that rocks out. Just use the same recipe as in lemon curd but add some lemon juice to bring the tart thing out. You won't be sorry.

[Steve Klc]

One thing to keep in mind sinclair is that not all curd recipes are the same process--some are cooked gently over a water bath and some have enough acidity in the recipe that you can bring the mixture to a boil directly in a saucepan and not worry about over-cooking the eggs. When you play around with fruit substitutions it will likely be the acid percentage which changes--and depending on the fruit or the recipe you might--might--have a problem. But knowing this going in, you can figure out how to adapt.

[jango]

At the mention of curd, I have to venture out of lurkdom, barge into the eGullet party, and recommend passionfruit curd. In California, I used Perfect Puree concentrate since it's hard to find the real fruit. Now that I'm back in the land of passion, fruit that is, I'd use the fruit. It's particularly addictive if you add some concentrate after you've strained the cooked curd. Packs a mighty aromatic punch.

Jane

[JosephB]

I have had the most success making lemon curd by heating the acid, suger and butter first, and then tempering the eggs, before returing the entire mixture to direct heat. With constant stiring, I've never found the need to strain the curd. Is my method generally valid for other fruits?

[Elizabeth_11]

I've never tried this recipe before, but this raspberry curd recipes looks very similar to a lemon curd and I bet it's quite tasty! It would probably work well with strawberries also if you lowered the sugar amount a bit.

Raspberry Curd

(makes c. 2 c., enough to fill one 9" tart shell)

3 half-pint baskets raspberries

About 1/2 c. sugar

4 T. unsalted butter

1 1/2 t. lemon juice, or to taste

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

Puree the raspberries and put them through a fine strainer to

remove the seeds. Measure 1 1/2 c. puree, heat it in a

non-corroding saucepan, and stir in the sugar and butter.

Taste and add the lemon juice to taste. Whisk the eggs and egg

yolks just enough to mix them, then stir in some of the hot

puree to warm them. Return to the pan and cook over low heat,

stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick--it should

reach a temperature of 170 degrees. Chill.

This can be used as a cake filling, or to fill a tart or

tartlets. Garnish with a little creme Chantilly.

[Michael Laiskonis]

I've been doing a free form yuzu curd tart for some time. Yuzu is a citrus fruit of Japanese origin, found often in savory cooking (sashimi dishes and nuevo/fusion ceviche, for instance), and with an exotic, aromatic flavor that I've come to describe as a marriage of apricot and lime. The fresh fruit is difficult to find, and quite expensive. We source a bottled juice that is really nice, unlike most bottled lemon and lime juices I've tasted.

The curd is produced in the classic proportion and conventional manner, the acidity of the yuzu softened with a bit of orange juice. I, however, prefer to emulsify the butter after cooking the base, which will provide a smoother, creamier texture and allow the sweet flavor of the butter to come through.

For the "tart" described below, the curd is fortified with gelatin, then cooled and lightened with whipped cream. This is set into ring molds with a sablée breton base, then sprayed with white chocolate with the addition of subtle pink and orange accents. On the menu, it is plated with a muscat-ginger caramel, kumquat confit, and a tangerine/clementine sorbet with a 'creamy' mouthfeel due to the addition of milk powder...

Yuzu Custard Tart

YIELD: approx. 25 60mm tart rings

4 whole eggs

340g granulated sugar

120g yuzu juice

50g orange juice

zest of two lemons

zest of two oranges

6g sheet gelatin

20g water

170g unsalted butter, softened

160g heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

1. In a heavy, non reactive saucepan, whisk together eggs and sugar, then add yuzu and orange juices, along with zest.

2. On medium heat, bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, as it will easily scorch on the bottom. Bloom gelatin in water.

3. When mixture boils and is quite thick, remove from heat and add gelatin. Allow to cool briefly and emulsify the butter into the yuzu custard in small amounts. Strain through a chinois and gently chill in an ice water bath.

4. Once cooled but not yet set, fold into whipped cream and portion into tart rings, set onto an acetate lined sheet pan. Top each tart with a 55mm disk of sablée breton. Freeze.

5. Invert and unmold tarts and spray with white chocolate, followed by light accents of pink and orange. Return to freezer. Allow to temper under refrigeration for one hour prior to serving.

[elyse]

Elizabeth and Michael, your curds look wonderful.

Michael, if you couldn't get yuzu juice, what would you (I) substitute?

[Xanthippe]

In a fortuitous coincidence, I just last week polished off the last of a jar of Kilchurn Estates' luscious banana curd -- only to discover it's no longer available here. Crisis! This was truly one of the most sublime fruit curds I've ever had the pleasure of eating.

That said, any ideas as to how to make it would be welcome. Bananas aren't a juicy fruit, of course, so for starters -- what might I use for liquid?? My curd-making experience is limited to your basic citrus: lemon, lime, grapefruit, and blood orange.

[Marlene]

Curd Recipes

Rasberry Curd

Yuzu Custard Tart

[Wendy DeBord]

When I make banana mousse I like to use orange juice mainly as my acid and tiny splash of lemon. The orange doesn't over power the banana the way lemon does and the acid does prevent browning. So to make banana curd why couldn't you make an orange curd and add pureed banana after cooking?

Joseph, you'll like your curd even more if you wait until your curd cools down and then add your butter and emulsify it. Techically, that's proper technique...just like when making ganche... try it-you'll like it.

How about freezing it? Do you? I've read others say they do, but wouldn't you need to add some gelatin so it wouldn't seperate/crack during defrosting?

[Xanthippe]

When I make banana mousse I like to use orange juice mainly as my acid and tiny splash of lemon. The orange doesn't over power the banana the way lemon does and the acid does prevent browning. So to make banana curd why couldn't you make an orange curd and add pureed banana after cooking?

Your idea makes sense to me, Sinclair; I'm going to give it a try. Thanks.

But I probably ought not use blood oranges for this curd, wouldn't you say?

[JessicaSophia]

Funny this question came up, as I'm making a rehearsal-dinner cake for my brother that I was hoping to fill with strawberry-lemon curd and garnish with marzipan strawberries (incidentally, it'll be Ruth Levy Beranbaum's Yellow Butter Cake with white buttercream frosting). I was planning to puree and strain some strawberries and just add them to the lemon. Maybe I'll adapt Elizabeth11's Raspberry curd recipe instead.

[nightscotsman]

Funny this question came up, as I'm making a rehearsal-dinner cake for my brother that I was hoping to fill with strawberry-lemon curd and garnish with marzipan strawberries (incidentally, it'll be Ruth Levy Beranbaum's Yellow Butter Cake with white buttercream frosting). I was planning to puree and strain some strawberries and just add them to the lemon. Maybe I'll adapt Elizabeth11's Raspberry curd recipe instead.

Instead of just adding strawberry puree to the lemon curd (which would make it too soft and liquid for a cake filling), I would suggest making Rose's strawberry conserve from the Cake Bible and adding that instead. Her mothod greatly intensifies the flavor and the finished product is gelled enough to not water down the curd. Just be sure to whisk the conserve or pass it through a strainer to make it very smooth just before adding it so you don't get lumps. Or you might try warming to melt it and adding it to the still warm curd.

I wanted to make a blackberry curd a couple weeks ago and had problems with several recipes not thickening enough. I finally ended up having to add a bit of cornstarch and bringing it to a full boil - sort of like a berry pastry cream. My understanding is that the acid in the lemon juice helps to thicken the curd - it curdles the eggs, thus the name. Most other fruits don't have enough acid to thicken as well as lemons do.

[Wendy DeBord]

Jessica, Nightcotsman gives you good advice. The ONLY way you could just add fresh strawberry puree is if you simmered it down to thicken it (till very thick), otherwise it would be very runny. Although I haven't made Rose's sb conserve, that really does sound like a better tasting way to go.

If you don't mind, I'd also like to suggest switching your butter cake recipe. I think the best one (to date) I've ever had came from "The Bakers Dozen" cookbook, which you can find online (I promise, you won't be disappointed). Personally, I'm not a big fan of RLB. cakes, I see them as very good technically but everyone I've tried (except a couple) haven't tasted as good as they read. She's a outstanding scientist, but not an outstanding baker. (Sorry, just my opinion)

Xanthippe- I learned about the oj instead of lemon from a Michael Roux's book. I wish I had thought of it myself, but I didn't. I don't know, I can't taste much difference in a blood orange then a reg., it's really just the color.

Hum, good point nightscotsman about thickening. I think I'll try gelatin instead of cornstarch. But I suppose then it's a fruit bavarian and not a curd? Maybe you need to keep lemon or orange for your acid/thickening then just make it a compound by adding another stronger flavor?

[Elizabeth_11]

Perhaps if she JessicaSophia substituted strawberry puree for raspberry puree and reduced the amount of sugar a tad, then added a bit of gelatin at the end it would result in a firmer curd? Raspberry puree is also rather "liquidy" if you think about it, not to mention lemon curd uses pure liquid. Am I making sense? Wouldn't this work?

Also, I did a search on banana curd and didn't come up with many recipes, but I did find an "ingredients list" for a banana curd product. It listed bananas, sugar, butter, eggs and lemon. Sounds like maybe you could in fact substitute banana for other purees??? Again--just a suggestion!

Edited June 9, 2003 by Elizabeth_11 (log)

[Xanthippe]

Xanthippe- I learned about the oj instead of lemon from a Michael Roux's book. I wish I had thought of it myself, but I didn't. I don't know, I can't taste much difference in a blood orange then a reg., it's really just the color.

Well I appreciate the information, Sinclair, original to you or not!

As to blood oranges, the particular variety I have right now (Moro) really does taste a bit different than the regular type; plus there's the color, as you said. So, as I definitely want the banana curd to be yellow, I will use oranges other than the Moros.

Edit to thank you, too, Elizabeth. Don't know why I didn't think to Google a recipe, but I appreciate the ingredient information. It does indeed sound as if I can use banana puree in place of another fruit puree. I'll give it a go and report back. Thanks again.

Edited June 10, 2003 by Xanthippe (log)

[Zucchini Mama]

I made some quince curd from a recipe on the internet but it didn't turn out the way I expected.

I wasn't sure how long to simmer the quince in the sugar and water. The recipe says to simmer until the fruit is soft and rosy pink, but the fruit turns pink when it oxidizes anyway. It was fork tender, but should it have been mushy? What I've got tastes good, but it's like a cross between a custard and an apple sauce--not what I expected.

It's also hard to tell what is fruit and what is pit with a quince. Do people strain the fruit after it's cooked?

This was an experiment, since I've never cooked with quince before. I'm flummoxed.

Zuke

[insectrights]

I've never made it, but did you leave the skin on? The skin helps bring out the pectin which will help the paste set up. And yes, strain after you cook. If you have a fine strainer or chinoise, that will do. Could be off on this, but I think that should do.

[Badiane]

I started cooking with quince last year...it's very hard to work with...all that fuzz and you can't tell what is what - hard bits, seeds etc. It's got a lot of pectin, so I would imagine any curd would be a bit jelly like. When I was making quince paste, I found that it really didn't break up, it was very applesauce like and I had to do some mashing, but after about 4 hours of cooking it was a paste. I would push it through a fine mesh tho...there are all kinds of nasty little hard bits in there that are unpleasant to find between your teeth (at least mine was that way)

If you are interested in making some other things, I have a number of recipes...quince paste is quite costly to buy - my husband and I figured, based on a retail price, that I made close to $500 worth in an afternoon for about 12 dollars in quince.

This year I am moving on to Fuyu persimmons...see what I can make with those!

[bloviatrix]

When I was making quince paste, I found that it really didn't break up, it was very applesauce like and I had to do some mashing, but after about 4 hours of cooking it was a paste.  I would push it through a fine mesh tho...there are all kinds of nasty little hard bits in there that are unpleasant to find between your teeth (at least mine was that way)

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Try grating your quinces before you cook them - this is something I learned from one of David Lebovitz's books.

[melmck]

I think the quince might set up too jelly-like as well. Definitely peel the skins, quince don't need any additional help in the pectin department. They are tough to prep, I peel the outsides, quarter them and then carve a triangle to get the middle out. Then I poach them. You could poach and use mostly poaching liquid and some quince to get a curd.

[andiesenji]

When I make quince jam, I look for fruits that are just barely ripe, still some green at the stem end. Very ripe fruit does not have as much pectin and will not jell firmly.

I scrub the fruit (with a plastic scrubby or stiff brush to get rid of the fuzzy stuff), core, then chop very fine leaving the peel on the fruit. (Grating, as mentioned by bloviatrix will also work very well but quince is slippery to hold so be careful.)

I cook the fruit in just enough water to cover until it is very soft, then put it through a food mill to remove the bits of skin and tough fibers.

For each cup of pulp I add 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup water and 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

This is cooked at a simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, the pulp will turn to a rose pink and as it cooks longer the color becomes deeper until it is almost red. Skim the foam off as it appears.

When it has reached the desired color and thickness (test a spoonful on a saucer)

pour it into a colander lined with cheesecloth or into a jelly bag and hang to drain.

This will give you clear jelly.

If you are not concerned that it is clear, put it through a fine sieve or chinois but do not force it too firmly or some of the fibers will end up in the paste.

This is actually a variation of an old recipe for marmalade - marmelo is the name for quince in Portugese - given to me by a friend from Sardinia.

Edited November 18, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[ludja]

There is a lof ot information on quince cookery in this thread, inlcluding a link to an eCGI course on quince paste and other fall jams by jackal10.

[andiesenji]

There is a lof ot information on quince cookery in this thread, inlcluding a link to an eCGI course on quince paste and other fall jams by jackal10.

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Thanks for posting that thread link. I completely missed it, I wasn't a member when this was posted. Beautiful photos.