Battleangel | Personal

I’ve been experimenting with different recipes and methods of making fruit curds. Mostly lemon curd of course.

Generally there are two or three problems that you run into when making a fruit curd. The first being how to heat the mixture sufficiently, with as little risk as possible and the second is achieving the right consistency. The third is getting the correct flavour which is especially crucial when it comes to acidic mixtures like lemon or lime curds. I’ve found for instance that many recipes have far too much lemon juice in them. For the future I will try using half a lemon worth for a standard one egg batch. It’s better to add more zest in my opinion. Also, unless you have a good reason, don’t bother with separating the eggs and using just the yolks.

I’ve tried a number of ways of making curds and in the end I stumbled upon the microwave method. It seems infallible when used in intervals of 30 – 60 seconds. I also found this nifty video that explains the method in detail. I really can’t recommend using the "double boiler" method, i.e. steam heating a bowl, as it is SLOW and BORING. A microwave is twice as fast at least and twice as exact. I’d sooner recommend using a saucepan directly, just like the pros. It can easily fail but at least it’s fast.

That brings us to texture and consistency. Using a microwave cuts down on need to use a strainer afterwards. The eggs just don’t clot in the same unappealing way. So unless you’ve used extremely chunky zest or forgot to remove the pulp from the fruit juice you’re probably good to go. Finally, getting the right thickness is just a matter of experimentation. I’d reckon I run a normal batch of curd five or six minutes or so in the microwave (60 + 60 + 45 + … seconds). You can keep going until you’re happy but also keep in mind that the mixture will thicken somewhat as it cools. It might be a good idea to put the bowl in some cold water to speed up the process and get a better idea of the final result. If you’re not happy you SHOULD be able to start the heating cycle again.

Suggested curds: Lemon, orange, lime, raspberry, kiwi, passion fruit, pineapple, mango, blackberry … the possibilities are endless.