Non-Citrus Curds

[Tri2Cook]

I think a little extra acid is nice when doing non lemon or lime curds. A little citric and/or malic acid (depending on what fruit I'm working with) can make a flat or overly sweet curd stand up and sing.

[cakewalk]

On 6/9/2016 at 9:00 AM, jmacnaughtan said:

 

Take your favourite lemon curd recipe, and replace the lemon juice with freshly squeezed orange juice that you've reduced by around 2/3 or 3/4.

 

Thanks so much for your response. I make Sherry Yard's lemon curd, which calls for 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup lime juice. The lime juice works wonders.

I was thinking for orange curd I'd use 1/2 cup OJ and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Presumably I start with more OJ and reduce until I have 1/2 cup left? Or am I reducing the 1/2 cup of orange juice? Seems that I'd be reducing it to almost nothing. 

[pbear]

I'm quite certain jmac means to reduce to the volume of the lemon juice, i.e., in your case, from 1-1/2 c to 1/2 c.  Personally, I'd use concentrate rather than a reduction, as I think the flavor is better, but I suppose that's a point over which reasonable cooks could differ.

 

ETA: I almost said the first time that orange and lemon makes more sense to me than orange and lime, but decided that wasn't the question asked.  Looking at the canonical lemon curd thread I notice a similar recommendation from another source, so I'll throw it out there.

Edited June 11, 2016 by pbear (log)

[jmacnaughtan]

On 11/06/2016 at 2:57 AM, cakewalk said:

Thanks so much for your response. I make Sherry Yard's lemon curd, which calls for 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup lime juice. The lime juice works wonders.

I was thinking for orange curd I'd use 1/2 cup OJ and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Presumably I start with more OJ and reduce until I have 1/2 cup left? Or am I reducing the 1/2 cup of orange juice? Seems that I'd be reducing it to almost nothing. 

 

On 11/06/2016 at 3:16 AM, pbear said:

I'm quite certain jmac means to reduce to the volume of the lemon juice, i.e., in your case, from 1-1/2 c to 1/2 c.  Personally, I'd use concentrate rather than a reduction, as I think the flavor is better, but I suppose that's a point over which reasonable cooks could differ.

 

ETA: I almost said the first time that orange and lemon makes more sense to me than orange and lime, but decided that wasn't the question asked.  Looking at the canonical lemon curd thread I notice a similar recommendation from another source, so I'll throw it out there.

 

 

Sorry for the confusion - I meant to say that if the recipe says 1/2 a cup of lemon juice, take 1 1/2 to cups of  orange juice and reduce it down to 1/2 a cup.  That way you get the acidity and concentration without having to use any extra lemon or lime juice.

[mm84321]

Here is the idea for a pomegranate tart. To substitute the lemon juice for a lemon curd with 3/4 freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, 1/4 lemon juice, same amount of eggs, and instead of butter, olive oil, with a sheet of gel eat in thrown in for setting. How does that sound? 

[mm84321]

Gelatin *

[mm84321]

Same amount of sugar, too!

[cakewalk]

Sounds good. You might try a bit of pomegranate molasses for an extra kick.

 

I never made pomegranate curd, but I have tried cranberry curd several times. I know they're not the same, but my point is this: be aware that the vibrant magenta color will most likely not materialize. If it does, please let us know!! I saw photos of beautiful luscious magenta cranberry curd on the web and tried a couple of the recipes several years ago. I was devastated at the result. which was a very anemic-looking pink. Tasted okay, but I found the color made it drab and unappetizing. Maybe a drop or two of red food coloring, if you're not averse to that stuff, could change that. 

[mm84321]

I think the color will not be blanched too substantially, as I am replacing the butter with olive oil. I'll report back. In any case, the top will be garnished with the seeds themselves. The molasses idea is a good suggestion! Thanks!

[Niko]

I love this idea!  The great thing about experimenting with curds--unlike many pastries--is that while you are mixing the sugar, butter and juices, zest etc. you can adjust for taste and  color.  Especially if you are using gelatin. That is, you can always throw in more sugar or juice to suit your tastes. If you're concerned about not getting enough pom color, might I suggest displacing some of the lemon juice with zest and replacing it with more pomegranate juice, effectively increasing the amount of color/pom flavor in recipe.

 

Please let us know how it comes out.

[cakewalk]

So, @mm84321, did you make the pomegranate curd? How did it turn out? What did you use? Did it retain its color? Inquiring minds want to know! Thanks.

[Tropicalsenior]

@Kim Shook something to think about when you are back on your feet. I found this recipe for Apricot Curd. I would love to try it but I can't get apricots, however, she has several other recipes that I will try. We can get passion fruit here quite easily and I love passion fruit. I think that @MaryIsobel and @Shelby have also had pretty good success with the lemon curd recipe and might like to try something different. Just one thing that I noticed about her recipe is that she starts stirring at 2 minutes. I would always start stirring at 1 minute and continue at one minute intervals.

[MaryIsobel]

I'll bet that apricot curd would be lovely. Apricots here are not quite ready yet but in a month they'll be at their best so I will give it a go and report back. I made passionfruit curd once and it was really scrumptious but the puree is hard to find here, the fruits themselves almost impossible. I would like to experiment with a litttle curd and see how it freezes. The recipe for strawberry curd looks good too. Making and bunch of fresh fruit curd and being able to freeze it would make dessert making pretty simple.

ETA: my initital search indicates that curd can indeed be frozen.

Edited June 30, 2023 by MaryIsobel (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

I've been lucky that I can buy these fruit concentrates here. They used to be available all over the country but now I can only find them in one store. The one on the left is passion fruit and the one on the right is a type of BlackBerry.

They come in about six different flavors including strawberry. I've used them in cakes, dessert sauces, and quick breads. Do you have anything similar in frozen fruit concentrates?

[MaryIsobel]

7 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I've been lucky that I can buy these fruit concentrates here. They used to be available all over the country but now I can only find them in one store. The one on the left is passion fruit and the one on the right is a type of BlackBerry.

They come in about six different flavors including strawberry. I've used them in cakes, dessert sauces, and quick breads. Do you have anything similar in frozen fruit concentrates?

I can find them infrequently. Last time I found the passionfruit, I stocked up.