I love the mixture of creaminess, sweetness and a bit of a tang you get with fruit curds. So I thought I’d get a wee bit festive and make this cranberry and orange curd. It’s something different to use up those cranberries and perfect on your toast on Christmas morning.
Okay gang it is the run up to Christmas so let’s get this party started with some ideas for gorgeous gifts, and you know me, these just have to be foodie!
What could be better than this Christmas Cranberry Curd. If you always think of curd as being of the lemon variety then this one will get your taste buts all a tingling!
I bought a huge batch of cranberries the other day. I just love their colour and can’t resist when I see them in the shops, it’s a case of ‘Wayhey Christmas is coming’.
So anyway I trotted home with my berries and thought I would play around with something different to make with them instead of my usual cranberry sauce.
Ingredients for cranberry and orange curd
There are only a few ingredients for this super tasty and festive curd, five in fact;
Cranberries (you can use fresh or frozen cranberries)
Oranges (if they are of the standard waxed kind then give them a jolly good scrub in soapy hot water, rinse thoroughly and dry to remove the wax coating)
Eggs, free-range is best of course!
Sugar – use white sugar here not brown sugar of any type as you don’t want that caramel taste in this curd.
Unsalted butter
The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make cranberry and orange curd
Zest the orange and squeeze out the juice. Remember to avoid that bitter white pith when you are grating the zest off the orange.
Cook the cranberries in the orange juice with the zest until the cranberries break down and go mushy.
Attack with a blending wand or pour into your blender to turn this juicy berry goodness into a fruit pulp.
Now pour this into a Bain Marie (bowl over a pot of simmering water with the bubbles not actually touching the base of the bowl and add the sugar and butter and let those dissolve.
Add the eggs and stir them into the mixture. Keep stirring and this will come together and thicken to a creamy consistancy as your cranberry curd.
Ladle into sterilised jars. The curd will set up as it cools so don’t panic about it not being solid right away.
How long does homemade curd keep?
Curds aren’t really preserves at all in the true sense of the word. While they sit alongside jams and jelly in the supermarket they don’t have the same shelf life when made at home.
Store curd in the fridge in sealed jars for up to 2 months. However, once jar is opened it must be used up within 2 weeks. It tastes so delicious mine never lasts long anyway!
Can you freeze cranberry curd? Yes, you can. Just spoon it into freezer-proof bags or little plastic boxes or jars (leave about 1cm head space for expansion), label and pop it in the freezer for up to a year. Defrost thoroughly before use.
How to serve cranberry curd
On toast for breakfast or with croissants too, what better way to start Christmas morning than with cranberry curd on your toast!
Stirred into Greek yogurt or swirled through ice-cream
As a filling for sponge cakes or tarts. Cranberry curd tarts would be perfect as a change from the usual mince pies on your festive tea table.
Slathered on a scone with cream on top, yessss!
Stirred into cream cheese with sugar as a cake frosting.
New to preserving? Then don’t panic, I can take you from zero to hero in no time at all.
Just check out these handy articles to get you heading in the right direction fast;
How to make great jam and marmalade
How to make chutney and relish
How to sterilise jars and bottles
This recipe makes a great foodie gift, so why not check out my post on how to make Christmas hampers.
You can make curds out of any juicy fruit. From lemons and limes to oranges, pineapple and cherries. Here are some of my favourite fruit curd recipes.
PS – Here are some other cranberry recipes you might like to try;
Cranberry and Orange Marmalade
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Christmas Cranberry And Orange Curd
Ingredients
- 300 g cranberries
- 2 oranges the zest and the juice which should be about 100ml/3 1/2fl oz
- 4 eggs beaten
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 450 g caster sugar
Instructions
- Put the berries, grated zest of the orange (avoiding the bitter white pith) and the orange juice in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the berries are soft and mushy.
- Whizz with blending wand or carefully pour into a blender.
- You can pour this back in the pan and add the other ingredients that way, but to be honest I prefer to set a bowl over a pan of bubbling water (a double boiler) as I feel it means I have a bit more control over the eggs when adding them.
- So I pour my smooth berry and juice/zest mixture into my double boiler bowl and add the sugar and butter and stir until they have dissolved.
- Now comes the bit that always scares people about making curds, adding the eggs. Don’t panic, just add the beaten eggs to your mixture and
- keep stirring, , that is the key to making a curd. Stir your mixture until it thickens up.
- Spoon into sterilised jars, cover with a waxed paper disc and pop on a lid.
You’re back! And with a dang good recipe, too! Yay for us! I love the sounds of this – I’m making a white cake for a friend’s birthday and I was going to use lemon curd as the filling between the layers – now I think I’ll use your Cranberry Curd – what a stroke of genius this is! On another note, I’ve been thinking about you, wondering how things went the other day – when I saw this post I thought you must be doing okay, faking-it-till-you-make-it kind of okay…cooking is good therapy! xo, Nan
how big were the jars you used for thus recipe?
Hi Naomi,
These are just small sized jars as curd doesn’t keep for long so I only ever make small quantities.Hope this helps.
K x
Oh my word – Christmas on a plate. That would be perfect on toast as a quick and easy Christmas morning breakfast before all the feasting begins!!!!
Hi Veronica,
So glad you like the recipe. It’s super easy and you’re right, just perfect for the toast on Christmas morning.
K
Thanks for the great recipe!
I scaled everything up to 400grams of Cranberries and only added 140g of caster sugar. >500g just sounded too sweet;-)
It is delicious!
Merry Christmas and stay healthy!
Susanne
Hi Susanne
Glad you liked the recipe so much. Merry Christmas to you too x
K