Frank Sinatra once said that “orange is the happiest colour” while Ralph Waldo Emerson compared New York City to a sucked orange. Personally, I think I prefer the former quote, but I’m hoping to find out whether the latter is true later this year (fingers crossed). In the meantime, there’s no doubting that the zing in a burst of citrus brightens up both food and folks. With the South Australian winter on our doorstep (in theory, if not fully in practice) it’s hard to miss the fact that it’s citrus season.There are gorgeous big bags of fresh local oranges in every farmers’ market and supermarkets, and if you keep your eyes open you’ll find roadside vendors dotted strategically near main thoroughfares.
I came home from the Adelaide Hills Farmers’ Market last weekend lugging a big bag of my favourite, Navels. We are a little spoiled here in Australia, as we can grow oranges pretty much all year round. If you are lucky, you may still be able to pick up a bag of sweet, juicy Valencias. They are on their way out now, being available from November through to February, but are great for for juicing. I prefer the slightly tarter tang and fuller flavour of Navel Oranges which are available locally from June through to October. They have such gorgeous colour and are seedless, which is always handy.
I’m working my way through a five kilo bag of Navels over the next few days. We have guests coming for dinner tomorrow night and I anticipate getting through quite a few of the oranges in a very citrus-focused menu. If all works out as planned I’ll share some of the dishes with you. In the meantime I couldn’t wait to share this too, too easy and too, too divine orange curd recipe with you.
I adore lemon curd, but hadn’t tried making it with oranges before and, in fact, there’s no reason you can’t make it with any citrus at all. I have big plans to use this as an integral part of a wicked dessert tomorrow night (keep an eye on my Instagram feed at @lambsears for a sneak preview later tomorrow). That’s if I don’t eat all of it with a spoon first …
Orange Curd
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- zest of one orange make sure there is none of the bitter pith on it
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- 2 fresh room temperature eggs
- 2 fresh room temperature egg yolks
- 115 gms cold butter cut into pieces
Instructions
- Place sugar and orange zest in the food processor and pulse several times. This helps to colour the sugar and releases the orange oil, intensifying the flavour. Place sugar and zest in a small, heavy-bottom saucepan.
- Add juice, eggs, yolks and whisk all together.
- Add butter and place over medium-low heat, stirring continuously.
- Cook for approximately 8 minutes, stirring all the while, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- Strain it (if you can be bothered) and place in sterilised jars. Refrigerate for up to two weeks (if it lasts that long).
I love citrus curds. I like using egg yolks instead of whole eggs but with whole eggs there is less waste. I always seem to have extra whites or yolks!
Along with my 11 lemon trees I have a single orange tree with fruit on it right now. I have no idea what type though. This recipe sounds delicious but I may do it with a mix of oranges and lemons. With 11 trees I have oodles of lemons currently !!!
This orange curd looks delicious! I’ll pick up some navel oranges and give it a go too. Thanks for sharing it!
Love the stuff but hate the name…it deserves something much more elegant!
I’ve made lemon and lime and have always wanted to make orange…I should get on that. We have oranges here now but not the ones I love; those are early winter here too. Of course right now I’m dying for some blood orange curd…ah, only 7 months to wait!
Citrus curd is wonderful. I haven’t made orange curd for a long time but this has reminded me how gorgeous it is. You certainly have a lot of oranges to get through! xx
I’ve made bucketloads of lemon curd but I’ve never made orange curd. After looking at these photos I can’t wait!
Oh so sunshiny and sweet! I’d love some of this swirled through ice cream, or cheesecake, or in a tart, or on scones… Or just by the spoonful too! 🙂
Will give this a try with lemons as our trees are in the middle of producing bounteous crops right now and have to use them up although it sounds delicious with oranges.
Exquisite! I love the sound of this! We’ve made blood orange curd previously, it was lovely too.
YARM… I love, love, love lemon curds, I have memories of my Grams making curd for me, I’d eat it with everything, even on its own. I love the sound of this little beauty, will have to have a crack at it. Not tried Orange curd, but reckon it’d go down a treat. 🙂
It’s funny how I forget sometimes it’s opposite season in the other hemisphere. Or is it that we are the other?! BTW gorgeous looking citrus and orange curd is a nice change from lemon.
Orange curd is a brilliant idea! Love the colour of yours 🙂