The orange curd is a velvety, intense, and fragrant orange cream ideal for filling cakes, pies, and pastries. Composed of very few ingredients, it is free of thickeners and its flavor is a true explosion of taste.
Less known than the original lemon recipe, the lemon curd, this orange variant wins for its delicacy and round taste, perfect for those seeking a less tart yet equally rich in character alternative.
Besides being used in fillings, the orange curd can be served as a dessert spoon, accompanied by a fresh fruit salad. Much more intense than the pastry cream, it is capable of transforming even the simplest dessert into something special.
Curd can be prepared with many fruits and is really very simple. The version I propose today is made with organic Sicilian Tarocco oranges that were gifted to me by the Azienda Agricola Vespa.
Try the other creams as well:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: for 12 oz of orange curd
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 320.75 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 29.14 (g) of which sugars 29.00 (g)
- Proteins 4.35 (g)
- Fat 21.55 (g) of which saturated 13.52 (g)of which unsaturated 8.09 (g)
- Fibers 0.06 (g)
- Sodium 41.47 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup orange juice (Tarocco)
- 6 tbsp butter
- orange zest (grated, use the zest of a large organic orange)
- 2 g gelatin sheets (only if using the cream as filling in cakes to be sliced)
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Scale
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Thermometer
- 1 Strainer
- 1 Grater
- 1 Citrus juicer
- Food wrap
Method
Wash a large organic orange thoroughly and grate the zest.
Squeeze the orange with the citrus juicer and filter it through the strainer.
Cut the butter into cubes.
Put the sugar in the bowl, add the grated orange zest, and rub the mixture with your hands to release the essential oil.
Add the eggs (at room temperature), mix the mixture very well, and add the orange juice.
Pour the mixture into the saucepan, place over low heat, and cook until it reaches 181°F, stirring continuously (I strongly recommend using a thermometer, if you don’t have one, consider that the cream is ready when it coats the back of a spoon), the cream should never boil.
Turn off the stove, add the cold butter in small cubes, and mix.
The orange curd is ready. Let it warm and place in the refrigerator.
Let it rest for 3-4 hours before using it in your recipes.
If you want to use the orange curd as a filling in a tart, before adding the butter also add 2 g of rehydrated gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes.
If you need to fill cream puffs or make a dessert spoon, it is not necessary to add gelatin.
Advice
How to store orange curd?
It keeps well in the fridge, well covered, for 3-4 days.
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