Yum, yum, yum! I do so love this Valencia Orange Curd.
It never fails. When I am working on a recipe, I always buy way more of the main ingredient than I need. When working on my Valencia Orange Marmalade I did just that, so it was a natural thought to make a delicious Valencia Orange Curd. The fact that the recipe happens to be very similar to my Meyer Lemon Curd, it just made good sense that I make a batch or two of orange curd. It’s also a great way to use up leftover oranges.
Now, let’s get started.
Valencia Orange Curd
Ingredients: Makes approximately 2 cups or 4-4oz. jars of curd
- 11 large egg yokes at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup fresh Valencia orange juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Dash of salt
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ½ cup butter diced and chilled
Directions:
Over low to medium heat, bring a medium saucepan with an inch or two of water to a simmer.
Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, reserving the egg whites for another use. Juice and zest your oranges and lemon to the quantity of juice and zest needed from both. In a medium bowl, large enough to fit on top of the saucepan without touching the water, combine the egg yolks, sugar and salt and whisk until smooth. Add the two zests, lemon and orange juice to egg mixture and whisk until smooth.
Once the water reaches a simmer, place the bowl with the mixture on top of the saucepan. At this point the key is patience. Stir the mixture until it’s quite thick and heavily coats the back of a spoon.
Once it thickens, immediately remove the curd from the heat and stir in the butter a few pieces at a time. Allow each butter addition to melt before adding the next. Continue until all the butter is incorporated. Strain by pressing the curd through a fine strainer and pour the curd into clean sterilized jars. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. (Note: This Valencia Orange Curd can also be frozen for up to a year. To thaw, move the jar to the refrigerator for 24 hours before use. After the curd has thawed, it can remain refrigerated up to 4 weeks.)
Serving Suggestion: Valencia Orange Curd is spectacular with chocolate. A simple mini dessert to make with this Orange Curd is to crush chocolate wafers or cookies. Place a tablespoon of the crushed cookies in the bottom of a mini dessert bowl. Place a tablespoon or so of curd on top. Top the curd with a bit of whipped topping and sprinkle with a bit of chocolate shavings and voila.
Notes: The fresher the oranges the better the outcome. Leftover egg whites may be frozen in ice cube trays for later use. I prefer using Valencia oranges for their juice and overall flavor. Other oranges varieties aren’t always so juicy. The Curd will surprise you when it thickens, one minute it’s liquid and in an instant it’s thick, so pay close attention. You can make curd out of many types of fruits. The most common fruit curd is Lemon. I’ll make my Curd from time to time for gift giving. It also depends on how many oranges I have and what my need might require.
Like my Meyer Lemon curd, this Valencia Orange Curd is a wonderful addition to so many things, such as on warm scones, in small tarts, as a cake filling or on a simple piece of good crusty bread. What’s totally fun is to stir a bit of Valencia Orange Curd into Greek yogurt for a refreshing breakfast or after dinner treat.
Time to eat…
If you enjoyed my “Valencia Orange Curd,” check out my Meyer Lemon Curd, Orange Marmalade, or these awesome English Scones. Enjoy.
P.S. Take a moment to check out and purchase some of the tools I used for this “Valencia Orange Curd” below. 🙂