Orange Curd

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 10

Servings:

Calories: 130kcal

This easy orange curd is deliciously citrusy, creamy, and sweet. You only need 4 ingredients and it comes together in 10 minutes!

Place the egg yolks, sugar, orange zest and juice, into a medium pot over low heat.
Use a silicone whisk to whisk all ingredients until blended. Continue to constantly whisk gently until curds form. Cook and whisk for about 10 minutes, until the mixture becomes creamy, velvety, and thick.
Remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter chunks into the mixture and whisk vigorously until you have a creamy and shiny orange curd.
Pour the curd into a jar or bowl and cover with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the surface of the cream (otherwise, as the curd cools down and gets in contact with air, it will form a thin crust over the surface).
As it cools, the curd becomes thicker. Once it's completely cool, you can refrigerate until ready to use.

Use a fine zester to zest the orange. You can also use a vegetable peeler to peel the orange part of the zest, and pulse the rind in a food processor until minced.

Strain the orange juice to avoid little pieces of orange flesh ending up in the mixture.

Always stir. Stirring constantly is important: if you don't stir enough, you will end up with scrambled eggs in your curd.

When is the curd ready? The curd is ready when it reaches 76 C/170 F when checking with a kitchen thermometer. Alternatively, just cook it until it coats the back of a wooden spoon, it should be ready in about 10 minutes of cooking time.

Why is the curd not thick? The curd won't be fully thickened to the thick creamy consistency while it's still hot, it will thicken as it cools.

No need to strain. You don't need to strain your orange curd if you grate the zest finely. Alternatively, pour the finished curd through a fine-mesh sieve.