Strawberry Curd Recipe and Tips
Recipe and tips for making a fresh and lively Strawberry Curd.
It is a fun day when I can play McGyver anywhere, but especially in my kitchen. My mind really enjoys noodling out-of-the-box solutions to a current conundrum.
This Strawberry Curd Recipe is one of the conundrums I recently encountered, but one for which I am thrilled to have found a solution.
If you enjoy Lemon Curd or any other citrus curd, you know that it is a bright and fresh treat. The acidity and strong, fresh flavor of the lemons are the first tastes on your tongue.
What is a Fruit Curd?
Right off, can we all agree that someone really should’ve put a bit more effort into naming this luscious, creamy, fruity tasty treat?
That being said, fruit curds can be made with just about any fruit. I might take a pass on tomato curd or banana curd, but most others would be delicious! The typical ingredients of curd are fruit juice, egg yolks, sugar, and butter. If you are using a fruit juice other than citrus, you might also add in a citrus juice.
The fruit juice, sugar and eggs are whisked and cooked over a medium heat until the delighful combination thickens, at which point the butter is typically added. If you search ‘fruit curds’, you will find many different variations of this recipe, this is the basic recipe and the one I used for my Strawberry Curd.
What is the Difference Between Curds and Custards
While similar in texture, curds are different from custards in that they contain more fruit juice and or zest, making them a bolder, fruitier treat. And while custards are typically the focus of the dessert, curds are usually accompaniments or fillings.
How to add more ‘strawberry’ to the Strawberry Curd
When I decided to make this Strawberry Curd, I used my stand-by lemon curd recipe, just swapping strawberry puree for the lemon juice. To say that I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. Not only was the first taste on my tongue egg yolk, but the bright strawberry color faded to a dull pinkish/beige-ish color that I found completely unappealing.
The challenge was finding a balance between enough egg to help the strawberry puree set up to curd consistency, but not too much that I ended up with ‘egg yolk curd!’ In my experimenting, I finally realized that the strawberry was just not a strong enough flavor to overcome the egg yolks.
As I was noodling ways to up the strawberry flavor, I quickly considered and discarded added strawberry extract. And that’s when I had my McGyver moment…strawberry powder! I had made and used raspberry powder for my Raspberry Macarons and knew that not only was it easy to make, but it really made a big impact on both flavor and color.
I hightailed it to the grocery store, purchased a 1-ounce bag of freeze-dried strawberries, ground them up, sifted the seeds, added some strawberry powder to my strawberry curd, and then sat back and enjoyed it by the spoonful! Not only did the addition of 2 tablespoons of strawberry powder bring the fresh flavor of strawberries back to the tip of my tongue, but the color made a dramatic improvement from pinkish beige-ish to PINK!
How to Store Strawberry Curd
You can refrigerate your strawberry curd for up to 2 weeks or you can freeze it. Let it come to room temperature on its own, don’t try to defrost or thaw in the microwave.
Strawberry Curd Recipe and Tips
A brightly flavored strawberry curd
Ingredients
- 2 cups strawberry puree
- 2-3 tablespoons powdered strawberries made from dehydrated strawberries (see note)
- 1/4 - 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (preferably fresh)
- 6 large egg yolks
- Pinch of salt
- 1 stick of butter, cut into 8 pieces
Instructions
- Combine lemon juice, sugar, salt, and eggs.
- Pour strawberry puree, powdered strawberries, and egg mixture into a wide-bottomed saucepan and whisk to combine.
- Place saucepan over medium heat and whisk almost continuously, until thickened, about 10-15 minutes.
- Once the curd has the consistency of sour cream and you can run your finger through the back of a spoon coated with the curd and see the finger track, remove it from the heat.
- Stir in the butter and mix until fully incorporated.
- Let it cool slightly and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface.
- Refrigerate until cool and ready to use.
- Keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
For Strawberry Powder:
Place 1 ounce of dehydrated strawberries into blender and blend for about 1 minute until it is in powder form. Place the powder in a fine-meshed sieve and shake and stir to separate the seeds from the powder. Discard the seeds. 1 ounce of dehydrated strawberries will make approximately 4 tablespoons of powder.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 40 Serving Size: 2Amount Per Serving: Calories: 54Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 33mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 1gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g
How to use Your Strawberry Curd
Strawberry Mini Tarts
On scones, of course!
Make a parfait with curd and yogurt or ice cream
Filling a thumbprint cookie
Between cake layers
A crepe filling
Bookmark this page or pin the following image to refer back to this Strawberry Curd recipe in the future.
Thanks so much for spending a few minutes of your busy day with me!
If you want to ensure you don’t miss future content, pop your email in the pale green box on the right or click here. I usually send out one email weekly so that I won’t inundate your inbox. I’m sensitive to an overflowing email inbox!
We will only use your email address to send you emails, no more than 1-2 weekly. In addition, you will have access to my growing library of knit & crochet patterns, as well as other printables. Check back often as this library will continue to grow. Please know that you can unsubscribe anytime by emailing me or clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of all emails.
And you can access many of the products I refer to on my Nourish and Nestle Amazon Page. You can access it here.
So, if you’d like to get in on the ‘subscriber benefit’ action, simply subscribe to Nourish and Nestle here or use the form on the right sidebar. It’s towards the top a bit.
I have sent all my subscribers the link to the Subscriber Benefits Library. If you missed it or misplaced it, drop me a line.
Until next time…
