Amazing Blueberry Orange Curd
Love blueberries & have some that are no longer fresh, or even frozen ones? Let me show you how to make use of theblueberries & have an amazing, home made curd that you can use on things such as Swiss Rolls, banana bread or spread on British Scones.
Equipment
- Scales or measuring cups (see my hand-measured baking ingredient conversions table )
- Measuring Spoons
- Cooking pot for figs
- Immersion blender (stick blender, jug blender, small food processor, smoothie maker etc)
- Bain Marie (heat safe bowl on top of a cooking pot, that does not touch the bottom of the pot. See notes)
- Hand Whisk
- Electric hand mixer (with dough hooks, electric whisk or a hand-held whisk. Optional -see recipe)
- Wooden spoon
- Medium sized heat proof bowl (for cooling curd)
- Cling Film (plastic wrap/saran wrap)
- Glass Jars (Masan jars, old jam/preserve jars etc. About 3 x 8oz jars. Thoroughly cleaned & dried or sterilized)
Ingredients
- 250 grams Blueberries (8¾ oz, about 1⅓ cup, fresh or frozen)
- 90 grams Red plums (3 oz, pitted, about 5 small plums. Optional, or increase blueberry quantity***)
- 2 tbsp Water (45ml, 1½ fl oz)
- 2 Medium - Large Lemon (Or 3 or 4 small sized, 1 m/l cut in wedges & juice of one)
- 350 grams Dark Brown Sugar (12⅓ oz, 1¾ cups. For alternatives see notes***)
- 3 Eggs, med-large (US large - extra large size, 168g/6 oz combined weight***)
- 141 grams Butter, unsalted (5 oz, ⅔ cup, cubed)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (Optional but beneficial, Make Your Own Vanilla Extract)
- 2¼ tsp Orange Extract
- *** See Notes (after Recipe Card)
Instructions
Cook The Blueberries
- Wash the blueberries & plums in water & white vinegar & rinse well. Chop & remove the stones from the plums, leave skins on, quarter one of the lemons. Don’t omit the lemon pieces as aids thickening of the curd.
- Add the fruit to a medium sized cooking pot, with 2 tbsp water, cook on low to medium heat. Once the fruit starts to give of its own juices, reduce to simmer on low, till the fruit is soft & a thick dark red/purple sauce is formed and sticking to the sides of the pan.
Puree The Blueberry Mixture
- Remove the blueberry mixture & discard the lemon quarters. Puree with an immersion blender, jug blender or food processor. Be careful as the mixture will be very hot & tend to splash when blitzing. It will also stain!
Make The Curd
- Use a heat proof bowl such as glass or metal, that can sit on a medium or large cooking pot, without touching the bottom of the pan. (Known as a double boiler or Bain-marie). Fill the pot with about 1 to 2″ (2½-5cm) level of water & heat on a medium setting to start to boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low for it to simmer lightly & place the bowl on top of the warm pot.
- Add the sugar, juice of 1 lemon & the pureed fruit to the bowl before mixing together. Allow the heat to melt down the sugar and become a liquid mixture. Move your pot & pan to a smaller ring/burner, intended for a small sized pot & reduce the heat to low-medium. Heating on a smaller ring/burner will ensure the eggs don’t get cooked too quickly. Alternatively, check your mixture isn't too hot, reduce the heat, or remove for a little bit if need be. Lifting up the bowl to let heat escape helps, but be very careful & protect your hands & arms first.
- Whisk the eggs before adding in 2 or 3 increments to the mixture, as well as just 1tsp of the orange extract & mix through. Add in the cubed butter, one or two small cubes at a time, whisking in-between each addition, till the butter melts. Continue adding & whisking for about 15 minutes until thickened & reduced in volume.
- Alternatively, for hands/arms that tire easily, use an immersion blender & whisk attachment or the dough hook(s) on a hand-held mixer. Whisk for no more than 10 seconds at a time, on lowest possible setting, before adding in the next cube of butter. Repeat until all butter pieces have been added.
- Every so often check thickness of the curd with a wooden spoon, by coating the back of it and trying to draw a clear line through the mixture. For more on this see the detailed step-by-step process before this Recipe Card. Note it will thicken more off the heat & on chilling
- Remove from the heat & from the cooking pot and allow to cool for 10 minutes before adding another 1½ tsp of orange extract. Add more to taste if you like.
Cooling & Setting
- Transfer the blueberry orange curd to another heat-safe bowl, cover the surface with cling film/plastic wrap, then another layer on top of all of the bowl. Like pastry cream/creme pat, this is on top of the surface of the curd to prevent a crust forming. Pop in the fridge till set. This can take up to 4 hours, but if short on time try my hack. Chill for 30 minutes, freeze for 30 minutes then check if thick enough. If not, place back in the fridge for another 30 minutes. Alternatively leave overnight in the fridge for an extra firm curd, that holds its shape. (See Photo 9 before this Recipe Card for a comparison photo of setting methods for my Fig Anise Curd).
Storing Blueberry Curd
- Once thickened, transfer the curd to glass jars, such as old jam/jelly jars or Mason jars. It makes enough for 2 standard sized jam jars. Using airtight lids, with no need to sterilize or can the jars, the curd will last about 2 - 3 weeks. Keep in the fridge and never place a used spoon/knife in the curd or it will spoil sooner. If you want to can the curd, it will last 3 - 4 months1
Serving Blueberry Orange Curd
- Serve the curd with anything you would normally pair with jam, jelly or preserve. Examples are toast, crumpets, or as seen in the photos, on my Classic British Scones. Pairs lovely with some whipped double/heavy cream. Add a thin layer to overnight oats before serving or add on top of some plain Greek Yoghurt. Try the curd with Air Fryer Scones and a 2 tsp orange extract in the dough to complement the blueberry orange curd.
Video
Notes
VIDEO - click the little settings cog and set quality to HD
*Chilling/Setting Time - includes using the quicker setting method. (Alternatively 4 hrs or overnight). Some hobs/burners will take longer or be quicker to make the curd too. **Recipe Yield - Makes at least 637g/22.5 oz of curd. Enough to fill best part of 2 standard UK sized jam jars or 3 x 8oz Mason Jars/Ball Jars. Serving Size - number of servings & nutritional values bases on 1 tbsp (tablespoon). Recipe yields at least 42 tbsp, at approximately 15g per standard US/UK baking tablespoon. For 100g/3.5oz values, multiply by a factor of 6.67. Plums - chopped, skin on, and stone removed weight.
Alternatives - strawberries could also be used in place of the red plums, or increase the blueberry amount.
Alternative Sugar - I have also tested using 200g (7 oz or 1 packed cup) of Dark Brown Sugar plus 150g (5¼ oz or ¾ cup) Dark Brown Muscovado sugar, or white granulated.
My British Scones - my popular recipe and almost real-time video - go to Classic British Scones or the Air fryer Scones version. Or watch my Scones Video Tutorial
Fig Anise Curd in the photo below.
Try some Plum & Orange Home Made Jam or Easy Lemon Curd
Check out & print my Baking Ingredients Conversion Table
Reference: 1 Preserving/Canning - reference from National Centre For Home Food Preservation, @ https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/lemon_curd.html
Blueberry Orange Curd Patterned Swiss Roll
*Chilling/Setting Time - includes using the quicker setting method. (Alternatively 4 hrs or overnight). Some hobs/burners will take longer or be quicker to make the curd too. **Recipe Yield - Makes at least 637g/22.5 oz of curd. Enough to fill best part of 2 standard UK sized jam jars or 3 x 8oz Mason Jars/Ball Jars. Serving Size - number of servings & nutritional values bases on 1 tbsp (tablespoon). Recipe yields at least 42 tbsp, at approximately 15g per standard US/UK baking tablespoon. For 100g/3.5oz values, multiply by a factor of 6.67. Plums - chopped, skin on, and stone removed weight.
Alternatives - strawberries could also be used in place of the red plums, or increase the blueberry amount.
Alternative Sugar - I have also tested using 200g (7 oz or 1 packed cup) of Dark Brown Sugar plus 150g (5¼ oz or ¾ cup) Dark Brown Muscovado sugar, or white granulated.
My British Scones - my popular recipe and almost real-time video - go to Classic British Scones or the Air fryer Scones version. Or watch my Scones Video Tutorial
Fig Anise Curd in the photo below.
Try some Plum & Orange Home Made Jam or Easy Lemon Curd
Check out & print my Baking Ingredients Conversion Table
Reference: 1 Preserving/Canning - reference from National Centre For Home Food Preservation, @ https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/lemon_curd.html
Blueberry Orange Curd Patterned Swiss Roll
NUTRITIONAL VALUES - I am not a qualified nutritionist, and all nutritional values approximate & based on a serving of 1 tbsp (UK /US tablespoon, 15g/0.5oz). Recipe yield 42.5 tbsp, 637g/22.5 oz. For 100g/3.5 oz value, multiply by a factor of 6.67. Values calculated from website My Fitness Pal.com, where more macros can be found & saved. Go to my Blueberry Orange Curd recipe on Myfitnesspal.com
Nutrition Facts
Amazing Blueberry Orange Curd
Serving Size
15 grams (1tbsp)
Amount per Serving
Calories
66
% Daily Value*
Fat
3
g
5
%
Saturated Fat
2
g
13
%
Monounsaturated Fat
1
g
Cholesterol
21
mg
7
%
Sodium
27
mg
1
%
Potassium
15
mg
0
%
Carbohydrates
10
g
3
%
Sugar
9
g
10
%
Protein
1
g
2
%
Vitamin C
600
mg
727
%
Iron
150
mg
833
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.