Blood-orange curd
It’s hard to pick a favorite variety of orange, but the one I truly can’t resist is the blood orange.
It can’t be an accident that citrus season falls in the bleakest months of the year. On a recent dreich Monday, I got on the tram with my son. We squeezed our way through everyone in their dull rain jackets, the floor slick and mucky. The clouds made it feel like it was much later than it was. Another mother across the aisle from us started to peel an orange for her kid. Suddenly, the carriage was filled with its scent.
That moment on the tram brought so much to mind, madeleine-like. How an orange tree in fruit is a thing of wonder to a child of the Scottish Highlands. The way my uncle Mike peeled satsumas so that the peel resembled an elephant's trunk and ears. Tinned mandarin slices blanketed in custard. Toast with lots of butter and thick-cut marmalade. Fresh orange juice with pulp. Our neighbor Winnie’s orange squash. A clementine in the toe of my stocking on Christmas morning. Peeling an orange to find a second, tiny orange growing inside it. Carefully pulling the membrane off a segment, then bursting every juice-filled pearl over my tongue.
It’s hard to pick a favorite variety of orange, but the one I truly can’t resist is the blood orange. It's often wrapped in sheets of colored paper, like a gift. I love the anticipation of slicing it open to see the ruby marbling. The Moro blood orange is intensely flavored, deep and rich like a summer raspberry, with just the right amount of zing. It has flesh like jewels.
The best way to enjoy a blood orange is to simply peel and eat it. There’s nothing to be done to make it better. But it tastes very good in a curd too. I particularly enjoy layering this blood-orange curd on toasted brioche with cream cheese or mascarpone. It goes well with yogurt and granola. Put it in your Victoria sponge instead of jam. Tuck a tablespoon or two under the custard of a crème brûlée. Be sure to store the curd in the fridge once it’s cooled, and eat within one or two weeks.
Blood-orange curd
60 grams freshly squeezed blood-orange juice
20 grams freshly squeezed lemon juice
80 grams fine sugar
80 grams unsalted butter, cubed
¼ teaspoon fine salt
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
Add the blood-orange juice, lemon juice, fine sugar, butter, and salt to a heatproof bowl and set over a bain-marie. Make sure the water in the bain-marie is just simmering and that the bowl is not in contact with the water. Stir with a whisk now and then until the butter and sugar have melted.
In a separate jug, whisk the egg yolks and the whole eggs until they’re very smooth. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the bowl over the bain-marie, whisking constantly. Continue whisking constantly as the eggs cook. (If you stop whisking, the eggs could curdle and your curd would be spoiled.) The mixture will start to thicken, though this may take several minutes (mine took nearly 20.) When it is the texture of thick custard, remove the bowl from the heat and immediately pour through a sieve into a sterilized jar. Seal the jar with a lid and allow to cool before storing in the fridge.
You had me with the taste of blood orange! This is a keeper 🍊🧡