Raspberry Curd

From scratch raspberry curd, this homemade curd is  a cinch to make and results in a wonderfully tart, sweet buttery curd that bursts with raspberry flavor. Use this raspberry curd on breakfast items like scones, toast, pancakes and waffles, as a filling for crepes, cupcakes and macarons and to fill pavlovas. Or… just eat it off the spoon, it’s that good.  

 

Ingredients for Raspberry Curd  

Frozen raspberries: Berries are often frozen in bulk at a particular time of year when they are ripe and in season so they tend to be better tasting than fresh berries most of the year. Even if you have fresh, in season raspberries, since they are going to be cooked there’s no need to use fresh here. 

Fresh Lemons: fresh fresh fresh! And organic if you can find an affordable option as you’ll be using the zest and want to avoid any chemicals that could be on the peel. Lemon brings out the wonderful tart flavor of the raspberry that is slightly muted by the the addition of the eggs and sugar. 

Sugar: Granulated sugar provides sweetness to counter the tart of the lemon and berries but also structure. 

Eggs: Eggs are our thickeners. This recipe can’t be made eggless. 

Butter: Butter will make for a silky, lush curd. If you are avoiding dairy opt for a reputable non-dairy butter that is known to replace dairy butter easily. 

Tapioca or Cornstarch: A thickener if you desire a thick curd or one which you plan to use in a pie or in curd bars. 

 

How to make Raspberry Curd  

There’s a few steps to this but it won’t take you more than 20 minutes from start to finish. First the raspberries need to thaw and cook with the lemon so that you can extract ‘raspberry juice’ to make the curd. 

 

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Once the seeds are removed we’ll add the eggs, sugar and thickener if using. The curd then cooks until thickened, this will take around five minutes.

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Once thick, we’ll remove any egg bits (and seeds that escaped us in the last sieve) and stir it into butter until it’s smooth and shiny.

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And that’s it! 

How do I know when a curd is done cooking? 

If you are using a thermometer the temperature will register 170 F, which is when the eggs are ‘safe’ to eat but also when the curd is thick. It’s pretty easy to eyeball this though so a thermometer isn’t necessary, you’ll know when it’s thick enough as you stir and it doesn’t slide off the back of the spoon so quickly but a layer remains. 

Tips to make a perfectly smooth and tasty curd 

• Sieve the curd, twice in this case: once to remove raspberry seeds and zest and again to remove any possible egg bits. 
• Cook until just thickened and covers the back of a spoon and stop when it does. Curd is thin when hot but thickens as it cools. 
• Whisk in the butter at the end: this makes for a buttery, silky curd. 

 

What can I eat raspberry curd with? 

Other than off the spoon you mean? 

It’s wonderful on toast, on waffles, scones and pancakes. 

To use the curd as a cake, cupcake, donut or macaron filling I’d go for the thicker option (add the starch). 

You can make mini pavlovas, or a large raspberry pavlova and like this pomegranate pavlova and spread the curd in along with whipped cream and fresh berries. 

How to keep and store raspberry curd

It should be stored in the fridge, sealed tight in a mason jar. It’ll keep for about 2 weeks. If you want it to last longer, store some of it in the freezer. 

How can I make a thicker curd for a pie or for bars ? 

This is when you’ll add that tapioca or cornstarch listed below as optional for a thicker curd. The curd will also need to bake once the butter is incorporated for about 10-15 minutes so if you are making a raspberry curd pie, parbake and bake the crust until you have roughly 12 minutes of bake time left. The same for bars (like these blueberry bars!). 

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