Blood Orange Curd

It’s the ideal season for blood orange curd with citrus fruits in full swing at the supermarket. This curd is made with a combination of juicy blood oranges, delicate pink grapefruit and zesty lemons. The yolks and butter make it gorgeously silky but not overly rich. This recipe takes no time at all to make, and the curd can be stored in sterilised jars for up to one month in the fridge.

What can I use this blood orange curd for?

The best thing about this curd is that it keeps well in the fridge for up to 1 month, so if you’re wondering what you can use it for, here are a few ideas:

1. Serve it on crêpes. Add a huge dollop of crème fraîche or double cream to your crêpes and drizzle with curd.
2. Top toast, muffins or crumpets. Looking for a zesty pick-me-up in the morning? This is beautiful slathered onto toast, muffins or crumpets to start your day.
3. Bake into pastries. Make a rough puff pastry, or buy it pre-made from the supermarket and parcel your curd up inside, with fresh apricots or pitted cherries, then bake!
4. Fold into Greek yoghurt. For a snack with a difference, swirl your blood orange curd into plain Greek yoghurt for a healthy snack with a twist.
5. Use it on lemon cakes in addition to buttercream icing. The tangy flavour of the curd will fully complement the sweetness of the buttercream icing.
6. Add to ice cream. It’s a yes from me!
7. Shake up a cocktail. Blood orange curd has a gorgeous sweetness and acidity to it so you can refrain from using traditional syrup or lemon juice in your cocktail.
8. Add to a vinaigrette. Ok, hear me out. It may seem bonkers but adding some curd to your regular vinaigrette tastes fantastic. Serve with pink radicchio, blue cheese and walnuts and you’re onto a winner.

Ingredients and alternatives:

• Blood oranges: if you’re struggling to find blood oranges in the supermarket, then regular oranges will work beautifully too.
• Pink Grapefruit: I prefer pink grapefruits for their more delicate flavour, but you can add one more orange instead of grapefruit if you want to stick to one type of citrus.
• Lemons: lemons give this curd a zesty zing, so in my opinion are essential for this recipe.
• Sugar: simply replace regular caster sugar with golden caster sugar or granulated sugar – just make sure the sugar has fully dissolved before pouring the curd into jars.
• Egg yolks: this is an essential ingredient in this recipe, so can’t be omitted – Clarence Court sell cartoned egg yolks for ease.

What can I do with my leftover egg whites?

Freeze them

Egg whites will keep in the fridge for up to two days, but you can also freeze them for up to three months. Pour them into freezer bags or individual ice cube trays and then label them carefully, noting how many whites you have per cube or bag. Defrost in the fridge overnight, but once defrosted, do not refreeze.

Make meringue

Take three egg whites and whip to stiff peaks, then add 175g of caster sugar – one tablespoon at a time – to your mixture, whisking continuously, until it’s stiff and glossy. Preheat your oven to 120C fan / 140C and bake for at least 1.5 hours. Leave to cool in the overnight overnight for a crunchy outside, and chewy marshmallow-y centre.

Use them in baking

From chocolate mousse, to macarons, egg whites are a staple in baking recipes.

Add to smoothies or cocktails

One of my simplest, favourite smoothies is 4 egg whites (8 tbsp in total), 1 banana, 150ml almond milk and 30g of oats. Whiz in a Nutribullet or other food processor and drink straight away. Alternatively, add to cocktails to enhance the flavour and texture of your drinks.

Eat in the morning

Adding additional egg whites to pancakes or your scrambled eggs or omelette is a surefire way to get more protein into your diet.

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