Ginger-Lime Curd

Or… the geek stirs at midnight.

I have been dying to participate in a Domestic Goddess' Sugar High Friday ever since I started this blog.

Unfortunately, the first one after the official opening was all about dairy.  And I was on lent.  And the second came far too close to Easter for me to do anything about it.  As it was I was embroiled hip deep in cooking projects!

But I swore to myself that I would not miss the next one.

Only the theme ingredient was ginger.  And for some ungodly reason my brain got stuck in the “ginger is for savory dishes” mode.  I wracked my brain for weeks trying to come up with something sweet for the entry.

It wasn’t until I was in desperate need of a dessert idea that inspiration struck.

Curd. The sensuous, silky crescendo of butter, eggs, and citrus.

I have long had a love hate relationship with curd.  I love curd.  Properly prepared, it is decadent, erotic, like and illicit lover.  It clings to the spoon, melting into your mouth before surprising you with its tart citrus tang.

But if store bought curd is like a lover, than most home made curd is like an unloved spouse; thinning on the top and unattractive.

It is the texture, I think, that bothers me most.  If the spoon doesn’t stand up in the curd, I am not interested.

I blame my first experience.  The magical deflowering that happens when you first try a food you instantly fall in love with.  Nothing else ever measures up.

My first time was in Ireland.  My mother had told me that she would send me anywhere in the world.  She was thinking Paris, where my grandmother had relatives.  But I wanted to go the to Emerald Isle.

Of course I decided to go in September.  There is a reason why September is toward the end of the tourist season.  It’s COLD!

Not just any cold, but the kind of cold that brow right through every sweater and deep down to your bones.  It the kind of cold that send you scrambling to the nearest hole in the wall which will serve you a good bit of tea.  Not that I needed an excuse.

Tea in Ireland was often served with a thick hunk of home made brown bread and the most incredible creamy butter.  A butter I have not yet been able to recreate on my own, despite my experimentation with various varieties of raw cream.  On rare occasion, usually before lunch, the tea was served with something a bit more delicate and scone like.

And it was on one of those occasions that I got served a tiny pot of liquid gold.  Never one to shy away from something new, I dug into the pot and fell hard for the tangy curd.  I brought home three jars, secreted away in a sheepskin rug.

Since then I have spent years perfecting my recipe.  From the number of eggs to the sugar/lemon juice ratio.  It helped significantly that my uncle, when he visited, fell under curds spell as well and would gobble it up as quickly as I could make it.  Not having to each batch after batch myself made it easier to keep trying new recipes.

One of the first things I discovered is that the whole “cook until it coats the back of a spoon” thing is bunkum!  If you cook it until it just coats the back of a spoon you might as well use it as an after dinner drink.  No thank you.

The best texture comes from cooking the egg mixture long enough to ribbon.  This means that as you move the whisk back and forth in the mixture, the tines leave trails that vanish in a few seconds.  This seems to produce the best finished texture.  Smooth and silky yet set.

I have also learned that all egg yolk curds come out to eggy.  The best flavor comes from a combination of whole eggs and egg yolks.  And as an addendum, the curd only seems to set after at least a full night in the refrigerator.

And it is for this reason that I seem to keep making it at midnight.  Plus, if you have all the ingredients on hand, it comes together very quickly.  Less than a half an hour, plus clean up.

This particular variant came to me at 11:30.  Lime and ginger just seem to belong together.  Ginger’s fiery sweet against lime’s bitter acidity.  They were perfect together.  Like the best part of a good key-lime pie.  It was just too good to be true.  My second batch was almost as good, but the limes were not quite ripe and thus quite a bit tarter.  Key limes would work very well in this recipe!

But what to do with all that curd? 

As incredible as curd is, it is not a dessert in and of itself… unless, like me, you just prefer to eat it with a spoon.  The beauty of curd; however, is that it is a veritable Swiss army knife of desserts…or um…breakfast?

But since I wanted a dessert, I just fold some of the finished curd into some whipped cream.  Then I layered the whipped cream atop some phyllo nests and crowned them with macerated strawberry for a quintessential summer dessert.  And if it’s too hot to crank up the oven, you could skip the phyllo nests and just serve the whipped cream over the strawberries.

It was so good that the first batch of curd was gone in a day and I had to make a second batch the night before Mothers Day.

At midnight.

Citrus Curd

2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
½ cup sugar, generous [1]
½ cup citrus juice [2]
1-2 tablespoons citrus zest [3]
1 tablespoon grated ginger (optional)
4-5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

In a small pot, bring 2 inches of water to a boil.  Lower the flame until the water maintains a slow boil.

Whisk the eggs and the sugar together in a small metal bowl until frothy.  Add the citrus juice, zest, and ginger (if using) and immediately place the bowl over the boiling water.  Stir vigorously with the whisk, making sure to keep the bottom and sides well scraped [4].  Continue stirring until the bubbles vanish and the mixture is thick enough for the whisk to leave trails when moved from side to side.  Do not stop mixing or the eggs will curdle.

Remove mixture from heat and add the cold butter, one tablespoon at a time.  Make sure that each butter pat is fully incorporated before adding the next.  Stop when the mixture is cool and glossy.

Refrigerate over night.


Phyllo Nests

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
Half a roll of Phyllo dough
Powdered sugar for decoration

Preheat oven to 425.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone.

Melt the butter and add the vanilla.  Stir to combine.

Unwrap the Phyllo dough, but keep it wrapped tightly.  With a sharp knife cut the dough into half inch strips.  Using your finger, pick up the curled pieced of dough and unfurl them, shaking them until they are loose and fluffy.

Divide the dough into 6 portions and form a nest on the cookie sheet, making sure to push any stray edge strands towards the middle.

Drizzle each nest with the melted butter mixture.

Bake on the center rack until golden.  If the oven is not a convection oven, turn baking sheet around to prevent uneven browning.

Allow to cool, then dust with powdered sugar.


Macerated Strawberries

1 pint strawberries, stemmed and sliced
Juice of half a lemon [5]
¼ - ½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon rose water (optional)

Gently mix together and allow to sit for 1-2 hours until sugar has melted and strawberries have given up their juice.

[1] I prefer to use raw sugar for this as it has a better flavor.  I mound it slightly in the measuring cup.  If you like your curd sweeter, add ¾ of a cup instead of half.

[2] For the lime curd, I have found it best to use a combination of lemon and lime juice.  A bit more than 1/3 of a cup of lime juice and the rest lemon juice to make generous half cup.  The same can be done with orange juice, cranberry, and pomegranate.

[3] I like to keep finger frozen and break off frozen chunks.  Not only are they easier to peel but the freezing process seems to make the ginger less fibrous.  I grate it with my Microplane.

[4] I prefer using a whisk to a using a wooden spoon or a spatula because I can ensure that the mixture keeps moving.  However, the whisk should be used to STIR not whisk.  You do not want to incorporate air into the curd.

[5] Either lime or lemon juice will work but do not omit the juice; it cuts through some of the strawberries’ one dimensional sweetness.

Comments

[Cereselle]

I'll have to send you some key limes from my mother's tree when they become ripe. All I ask in return is a jar of the curd. :)

What if it were done without the zest? I don't like the strings of zest in my mouth.

[Kitarra]

It is a deal! I will make you curd and you can ship me illicit limes! I love the sound of that. Illicit lime curd!

And I haven't had the problem with strings of zest. My microplan grater seems to make short work or pretty much anything and the resulting threads are baby fine. If they are not fine enough I just give them a few good shop!

*dances at the prospect of key lime curd*

[Tanna]

I love lemon curd and I'm sure I'll love your lime ginger curd. Funny how it took me so long to discover it. It is extraordinary the uses one can find for curd. I love the Phyllo Nests, so cute.

[Ruth]

Kit, great entry and one I'm definitely going to try soo. The phylo nests are an added treat.

Thanks for sharing

[Kitarra]

Tanna,

Let me know how it works for you! I think that I prefer the lime ginger to regular lemon but I am a huge fan of tart! Yeah it took me forever to discover curd but once I did I was sooo in love! The Phyllo nests are so easy, I have no idea why I didn't try making them sooner!

Ruth,

Thank you! BTW if you love ginger, you can add some to the macerated strawberries! I prefer ginger with peacher and other stone fruit but they are not fully in season yet. And thank you. Let me know how it turns out for you!

[Ivonne]

Just beautiful.

I found your post on the SHF round up. Well done!

[Kitarra]

Ivonne,

Thank you very much! It was fun to make as well! And most important -- it was easy!

I love your site! I clicked over there today and though I would swallow my tongue. Caramel Creme Brulee? WOW!

[Gabriella True]

Um what don't you do with all that curd? LOL. I love love love lemon curd. So this is going to KILL me. Yep. this officially on my list of things to make/

[Kitarra]

Gabriella,

Thank you! And yeah I end up using it in everything. My latest thing is to stir it into yogurt in the morning. I use Trader Joe's greek style yogurt.

If you love keylime pie then you will LOOOVE this!

[Ellen]

Thanks so much for the lime curd recipe! I have been trying to find lime curd for a frozen lime pie recipe and haven't had any luck finding lime curd in a store. Now I can make it myself, which I much prefer. I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks!

Ellen

[Kitarra]

Ellen,

Thank you for visiting. I am glad I was able to help. I can never find lime curd either. I have ordered it from online places and been terribly disappointed. This version has beautiful bright flavors. Please do let me know how you like it and I would love the frozen lime pie recipe if you could spare it.