I love fruit curds, the smooth creaminess mixed with the delicate taste of the fruits themselves makes curds something a little bit special.
Here is your step by step guide on how to make fruit curds.
Fruit and juicing
Fruit curds are made using the juice extracted from the fruit you have chosen, so make sure you have chosen good fresh ripe fruit to start with that does contain a lot of juice. Older lemons, for example, tend to have a lot less juice than nice fresh plump fruits.
Extract the juice ready for use and remember to take the zest off citrus fruit before you juice it!
Double boilers
Curds must be cooked at a low slow temperature to avoid the eggs scrambling within the curd. The best way to do this is to use a Bain Marie/double boiler.
You don’t have to buy a special piece of kit for this, just look out a glass or ceramic bowl that will neatly fit over a saucepan with space under the bowl and above the water you will put in there and have simmering merrily away.
Ingredients for fruit curds
Fruit curd is made by mixing the juice of your chosen fruit with sugar , butter and fresh eggs and adding heat to bring them all together. Follow your recipe for the correct quantities of juice, sugar, eggs and butter.
Stirring things up
Curd making is all about stirring. Have your bowl set over the pan of simmering water and add your butter, eggs, fruit juice and sugar. Stir the mixture slowly all the time to ensure that all the sugar dissolves properly and that everything is well combined.
Take your time with making curds
Curds take time and patience is required to just hang in there and keep stirring until the curd starts to come together like custard. You will feel the drag on the spoon as you are stirring.
Sieving the curd
When the curd is ready (it will firm up in the jar as it cools) remove from heat and strain it to remove any little lumps of egg. Place a sieve over a large jug and pour through the cooked curd mixture.
How to make lemon curd in a microwave
Melt the butter in microwave for 30 seconds. Follow recipe as before then stir the other ingredients together then add to the butter and stir well. Heat at 1 minute blasts and stir between times till it thickens. Strain through a sieve.
Making fruit curd in an Aga
Place all the ingredients apart from the eggs in a large ovenproof jug, cover and pop into the simmering oven for about 30 minutes.
Take it out of the oven and whisk in the eggs then return to the simmering oven (covered) for 1-2 hours
Potting up your fruit curds
Pour or spoon the curd into sterilised jars (see How To Sterilise Jars) and pop on the lids. I cannot stress enough how important it is to always use sterilised jars in any sort of preserving.
Storing your fruit curds
Store in a cool dark place for up to 3 weeks and once opened keep them in the fridge and use within a couple of weeks at most. You can freeze fruit curd for up to 3 months. I do this by putting my curd into little freezer bags, labelling clearly and freezing flat on a tray then I can simply file them upright to save space in my freezer.
Lemon curd fixes
If your curd is too thin then try cooking it for longer. Or add a little more butter. Some folks add cornflour but that can make your lemon curd have a nasty taste.
If your lemon curd is too thick then try adding a teaspoon of extra lemon juice and whisking this in.
If the lemon curd is lumpy then strain it through a plastic sieve or blitz with a stick blender.
The above fixes apply to any curd you are making.
