Home-made Rhubarb Curd
This home-made Rhubarb Curd is really easy to make and tastes delicious. It is creamy and buttery with a zing of sharpness from the rhubarb.
Fruit curds are a great way of capturing the flavour of a wide range of fruits and work best with strong-tasting ingredients – such as lemon, lime, passion fruit or rhubarb – where the sharpness is softened by the butter and eggs. The method and ingredients for a fruit curd are very similar to those for making custard – so when you make this recipe you are making a kind or rhubarb and custard combination which is a taste classic.
You can make Curd from a number of other tropical fruit such as lime, orange, mango and passion fruit. I think it works best with strongly flavoured fruit – if you are a fan of rhubarb, have a look at my recipe for Lemon Curd
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What you need to know about this recipe
- You do not need to add too much water (step 2) as the rhubarb will produce liquid as it cooks.
- You can either strain your cooked rhubarb to remove the fibres or process it in a blender (step 2). If you choose to blend it, you curd will be slightly thicker. It is important to either strain or blend the mixture otherwise your curd will not have a lovely smooth texture.
- Allowing the rhubarb mixture to cool slightly before adding it to the eggs (step 3) and adding cornflour to the mixture will prevent the eggs scrambling when it is re-heated.
- You can add a few drops of colouring (step 5) which will make your curd pink. If you don’t do this, it will still taste just as good!
- You must put your curd in a sterilised jar and keep it in the fridge. It does not keep as long as jam and must be eaten within a week.
How to use Rhubarb Curd
So what can you do with Rhubarb Curd? Well, lots and lots of things, actually! First off, it is great as a spread on bread as an alternative to jam or honey. It is also great stirred into plain yogurt or spooned over vanilla ice cream. However, in my opinion, it really comes into its own as a cooking ingredient. Its punch of rhubarb flavour is fantastic in all kinds of sweet dishes. It is particularly useful as a filling for cakes and in all kinds of puddings. I use it as a cake filling in my Rhubarb and Vanilla Victoria Sandwich cake and also to make my easy Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice Cream.
Other rhubarb recipes
I love rhubarb and have lots of other rhubarb recipes in addition to . It makes a great jam or compote. It is also great in a crumble. Rhubarb is also good in many home-baking recipes such as Rhubarb Crumble Cake, Rhubarb Bread and Butter Pudding, Rhubarb Upside Down Cake and Rhubarb Roulade. It also makes a good basis for cold desserts such as Rhubarb Fool. You can also use it to make Rhubarb Cordial and a pretty good Rhubarb Gin liqueur!
Other jam and preserve recipes
Making your own jam and preserves is really easy. They taste delicious, keep for a long time and also you know exactly what is in them. You can moderate the sugar content and also be sure that there are no artificial preservatives. It is also a great way to use a seasonal over-supply of a particular fruit.
My home-made jam recipes use seasonal ingredients and often have a bit of a flavour twist. For example, my Strawberry Jam is flavoured with rose geranium and my Rhubarb Jam is flavoured with vanilla. I have some simple jams such as my classic Gooseberry Jam.
Some of my other preserve recipes are a bit more unusual. I make a delectable Rose Petal Jam which can be used in lots of different ways. I also have a Chilli Jam which is fantastic as a dip or with savoury dishes.
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Recipe for easy Rhubarb Curd
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Rhubarb Curd
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 jam-jars 1x
- Category: Preserves
- Cuisine: English
Description
Creamy Rhubarb Curd is fantastic spread on bread or as an ingredient in cakes and puddings.
Ingredients
- 800 g (1 and a half pounds) rhubarb
- 100 ml (3.5 fluid oz) water
- 4 eggs
- 300 g (10 oz) caster sugar
- 4 teaspoons cornflour
- 50 g (2 oz) butter
- A few drops of pink food colouring (optional)
Instructions
- Wash the rhubarb stalks thoroughly. Cut into pieces of around 2 cm.
- Put the rhubarb pieces into your heavy saucepan with 100 ml of water. Heat until the mixture is simmering and cook for around 5 minutes until the rhubarb is soft and mushy.
- Now you can either strain the rhubarb mixture through a sieve to remove the fibres and use the strained juice to make your curd. Alternatively, you can blend the mixture in a blender or with a stick blender and use the thicker puree to make your curd. Allow the rhubarb mixture to cool slightly.
- Beat the eggs in a bowl and then add the caster sugar and cornflour which should stop the mixture curdling and turning into scrambled eggs!
- Now, gradually pour the rhubarb mixture into the bowl and combine it with the egg mixture. Add a few drops of pink food colouring if you wish – if you don’t do this, your curd will not look so pretty but will taste just as good!
- Put the mixture back into your heavy saucepan, add the butter and heat very gently for around 10-15 minutes until it has thickened to a custard-like consistency. You will need to stir it often and keep an eye on it.
- Remove the mixture from the saucepan and pour into sterilised jam jars – it will fill two medium-sized jars. It must be kept in the fridge once cooled and will last for around a week.
Notes
You can sterilise your jam-jar by washing it in warm, soapy water, rinsing well and then drying off for 15 minutes in an oven set at 140C/120C fan/gas 1.
Keywords: rhubarb curd
