Orange curd? Yes! Orange Curd! You know, like lemon curd, but with oranges!
This may seem like an odd recipe without an accompanying recipe for scones or something like that, but this orange curd has been made for another purpose… Sure, it would be great on scones, pancakes or ice cream, but I have different plans with this particular orange curd.
However… I will not reveal my plan until tomorrow! I’ll give you a hint though, tomorrow is Queen’s Day in the Netherlands. But that’s all I’m saying for now! Instead, I’ll just tell you how to make it.
You’ll need gorgeous oranges…
Beautiful, perfect orange oranges! By the way, interesting fact of the day: did you know the Dutch royal family is the Orange-Nassau family? (Hint hint…)
Anyway, juice and zest some of the oranges and combine the juice and zest with some sugar and egg yolks. Cook in a double boiler until the mixture thickens. Basically, you’re making a fruit custard and instead of using milk or cream, you’re using juice. After the curd has thickened, you just take it off the heat and stir in some butter.
That’s it.
It’s just too easy for something with so much flavor! I couldn’t stop sneaking to the fridge and dipping my finger in the bowl. Too bad I didn’t have any scones…
Anyway, enjoy! And stay tuned for the big revelation!
- 60ml (or ¼ cup) freshly squeezed orange juice
- 3,5 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon of orange zest (make sure the oranges you use are scrubbed clean!)
- 100g (or ½ cup) granulated sugar
- 30g (or 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
- In a small saucepan, scald the juice and zest. In the meantime, whisk together the yolks with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Once the juice has come to a boil, slowly drizzle it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling.
- Once the juice has been added, return the mixture to the saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring continuously, until the mixture thickens and reaches 78°C/172°F. Take it off the heat, or the curd may split. You can use a sugar thermometer if you're worried about this step.
- When the mixture has thickened into a curd, take the bowl off the heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into another bowl. Let the curd cool for fifteen minutes.
- Add the cubed butter to the still slightly warm curd and stir to combine. Cover the curd by placing a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd (press it down with your fingers to push out any air) and let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating it. By placing the plastic wrap directly onto the curd you prevent a skin from forming.
- Can be stored in the fridge, tightly covered with plastic wrap, for up to 1 week.
New favorite food quote:
Hey Nila! I tried this out and mine turned out really watery… I wanted to use it as a sort of drip down the cake glaze on my orange cake (but there was too much dripping involved..) It didn’t break but it was not completely cohesive either, I did use a candy thermometer. It just never really thickened up during any of the steps – maybe too much of the egg? They always sell extra large eggs in North America!
Hi Nurefsan, that’s so annoying! I’m not sure why your orange curd didn’t thicken. You’d think the extra egg yolk from the larger eggs would make the curd thicker, not runnier, right? The only thing I can think of is that maybe the candy thermometer is a bit off. You can check this by sticking it in a pot of boiling water and see what it registers. Sorry to be of so little help 🙁