Blood Orange Curd and Day #1 of All Citrus Week!

I know lemon is king when it comes to fruit curds.  No other citrus can touch it for its explosive tang.  And I know this Blood Orange Curd is more subdued, for sure.  It's milder, yeah.  A little bit sweeter, agreed.  Less puckeringly tart, ok.  But blood oranges have their own special citrus/berry flavor, with a delicate hint of floral, and a glorious range of colors that makes them well worth your time.

This recipe is similar to the Meyer Lemon Curd from a few days ago, except that I cut down the sugar a little bit because the oranges are sweeter.  In fact I added the juice of one lemon to the recipe to get some of that tartness that you expect in a curd. Blood oranges vary a lot in color, so depending on what you have, your curd could turn out orange, peachy, coral, pink, or even veering toward a muted purple.  The six egg yolks have some say in the final color as well.

Blood Oranges give off more pulp when they're juiced than other oranges, so if you want a completely smooth curd you might want to strain the juice before adding it to the egg yolks.  I left mine in, I don't mind the texture.
Blood Orange Curd
5 egg yolks
2/3 cups sugar
juice of 1 lemon and enough blood orange juice to make 1/2 cup total juice (about 2 oranges)
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut in pieces

• Put the yolks, sugar, zest and juice into a saucepan.  Whisk everything together. 
• Set the pan over medium heat and, stirring constantly, heat until thickened.  This will take about 6-10 minutes depending on how hot your flame is.  Don't let the mixture boil, but heat it until it coats the back of your spoon or spatula and is thick and glossy. 
• Turn off the heat and add the butter, bit by bit, stirring the entire time.
• When all the butter is incorporated and the curd is smooth, pour it into a glass bowl.  
• Put a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the curd to prevent a skin forming and let cool.
• Refrigerate until cold.  It will thicken as it cools.

Today marks the start of an all citrus week here on The view from Great Island.  I'm going to get it out of my system in one fell swoop before moving on.  Stay tuned...it's going to be lots of fun.   If you want to cook along with me, grab some lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits, you're going to need them all!

One year ago today---

Soupe Flamande with Frizzled Brussels Sprouts