While the rest of my family is divided into strawberry lovers and blueberry worshipers, I pour all my adoration into orange flavored anything. One of my favorite things to make when I need to satisfy my orange cravings is a super simple orange curd. I like to use this curd as a filling for cakes, a replacement for jam in thumbprint cookies, sometimes just a few spoonfuls as a sweet treat on it’s own. It also makes for delicious orange bars. This particular recipe makes quite a large batch of curd, so feel free to half this one.
To make this deliciously luscious orange curd, pour the sugar into a medium sized saucepan and rub in the sugar. Let the sugar rest a few minutes then add in all the other ingredients, except for the butter. Bring the curd to a boil over medium heat and keep it boiling, whisking continuously, until it becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take it off the heat, let the butter melt into the curd, stir everything together then cover and chill for several hours. The curd should be lovely, smooth, and bursting with fresh orange flavor.
As a side note, I like adding a bit of banana into my orange curd as it helps create a smoother texture, in my opinion. You can absolutely skip it, but I would recommend compensating for it with an extra egg.
Orange Curd
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Orange Puree
- ½ Cup Orange Juice
- ¼ Cup Mashed Banana (Optional)
- 1 ½ Cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Orange Zest
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 1 Stick Butter
Instructions
- Mix the orange zest into the sugar in a saucepan and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes until the sugar is fragrant.
- Stir the orange puree, juice, mashed bananas, eggs, and egg yolks into the saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to boil over medium heat, whisking continuously. Boil until the curd coats the back of a metal spoon.
- Take off the heat and melt in the butter.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to completely cool. Use within 4 days.