Strawberry Curd

May 30, 2013

Strawberry Curd / une gamine dans la cuisine


I'm not exactly an outdoorsy person, just ask the elephantine spider (sandwiched?) under a pile of ironic nature books on my living room floor for the past three weeks. (I'm convinced he's still alive, or, even worse, not there at all!) I wasn't a girl scout but I did go to the summer camp that was run by our local bird sanctuary. Even though it solidified my fear of anything that could creep onto me unnoticed, I relished the experience! I churned homemade vanilla ice cream, fed geese and ducks their morning corn, learned how to identify a few boreal star constellations, and plucked strawberries alongside my first official "crush."


His name was Sean - we only saw each other for a few weeks each summer. Very tragic. We would sneak out of our pseudo cabins at night to watch the stars and eat strawberries - which we dubbed "starberries."  On the last day of our last summer together, before Sean moved back to Maine, I gave him my fav. yellow stripped knee sock (just one, to be dramatic) and he gave me his fav. Atari tee-shirt. (It smelled like campfire ashes & bubble gum and was smeared with starberry juice.)

Strawberries will always make me think of young love and sticky, awkward, hand-holding.



Strawberry Curd / une gamine dans la cuisine



Originally I was going to use the strawberry curd as a filling for some tartlets, unfortunately my curd didn't thicken up enough to hold it's own in a crust. But it was *just* thick enough to spread onto English muffins, scones, and waffles! Or, if you're like me, you can enjoy it by the spoonful.


If you love lemon curd, you're going to adore this strawberry version. It's sweet, with just a slight burst of lemon flavour - it tastes like the fresh cusp of spring and summer, filled with endless flowering fields, fireflies, starry nights, and falling in love.


Strawberry Curd / une gamine dans la cuisine



Strawberry Curd
makes enough to fill about 4 mason jars

ingredients
225 grams (about 2 heaping cups) fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
315 grams (about 2 1/4 cups) super-fine sugar
zest from one lemon
juice from one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
113 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

method
Use a food processor or blender to purée the berries. If puréed enough, the seeds shouldn't be too intrusive - if you prefer, stain the berry purée through a sieve to eliminate all seedlings.

Create a double boiler: Add about a 1/2-inch of water to a medium-large saucepan and bring the water to a slow simmer. Find a heat-proof bowl that fits snugly on top of the saucepan - make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the simmering water. Place the puréed berries, lemon zest, lemon juice, cubed butter, and cornstarch into the heat-proof bowl and place the bowl over the simmering water. Stirring occasionally, cook until the butter melts and cornstarch dissolves.

Whilst waiting for the butter to melt, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks.

Remove the bowl from the heat, but leave the saucepan of water simmering. While whisking constantly, add a small amount of the egg mixture to the warm purée mixture. Keep whisking and streaming in small amounts of the egg until completely incorporated. (Don't add the eggs all at once or they will curdle.)

Return the bowl to the pan of simmering water. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens - about 10-15 minutes. (The curd is ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon and leaves a trail when you run a finger through it.)

Remove the bowl from the heat and allow the curd to come to room temperature (it will thicken up a bit as it cools).

Transfer the curd to sterilized jars, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use. Well sealed, the curd should last about two weeks in the refrigerator. (I doubt it will last that long!)

adapted from Lavender and Lovage

26 comments:

  1. Exquisite! That is something I have never eaten.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Um, cutest story ever!! I want a summer filled with "starberries" - it sounds like pure bliss. And so does eating this curd by the spoonful :).

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  3. That curd is absolutely gorgeous Valerie! I am in love with strawberries this time of year!

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  4. My first crush was in the fourth grade. His name was John and I actually started curling my hair because of him :)
    It's funny how certain foods bring us right back to the past. This strawberry curd looks amazing. I've made blueberry curd but never thought to make it with strawberries, quite brilliant!

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  5. loved the story!! and I love the idea of strawberry curd. I just want to drink it right from the jar.

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  6. Even with the cornstarch it didn't hold? Maybe a little more egg. Strawberry curd sounds wonderful, we are just starting to get great berries here. Atari tee-shirt, how cute and how old am I, I had an Atari.
    -Gina-

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  7. Something else to do with starberries, thanks

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  8. A beautiful tribute to young love. The only thing that could top that is an ironic nature book - and a recipe for strawberry curd.

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  9. Starberries! Oh, how I adore this "puppy love" love story! You have a gift for writing, Valerie. Also, a gift in the recipe development department! I must try your strawberry curd soon...what a nice summer berry tart filling it will make! Thanks for sharing! xo

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  10. I love strawberry curd and actually have a recipe of a thick one, perfect for pie filling.

    "starberries" is cute. Like teen lovers :)

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  11. Love the story and this:
    young love and sticky, awkward, hand-holding.

    We've all been there :)

    Gorgeous curd and the color is just mesmerizing!

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  12. sweet story to go with your luscious strawberry curd-now I'm dreaming of Summertime and strawberries;-)
    I've never seen curd made from strawberries-I think it's very cool and definitely spoon-able!

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  13. I love curd, but never thought of doing it with strawberries - sounds fabulous!
    Awwww...wonder what Sean is up to these days :)

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  14. sticky and awkward hand holding has happened to all of us, no? This is a cute story and made me giggle-love your curd! Would love it more on top of a scoop of yogurt:)

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  15. What a sweet story to go with this lovely strawberry curd. It screams fresh and light and I can just imagine how much better it would make everything that's topped with it.

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  16. I'm an absolute sucker for that color pink. I've been working my way through various 'curds', but haven't tried strawberry. My first thought was that I would miss the tang of lemon, but then I saw that you put in a good bit of lemon juice and zest. This is making my mouth water...

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  17. Seriously, best story ever! Starberries - how adorable were you :) This sounds amazing!

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  18. Love the twist on traditional lemon curd. Your story about camp, the boy and sticky hand holding just made me smile. It is funny how the small things jolt a memory. This curd looks and sounds amazing! Pinning now!!!

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  19. Cute story, I love how food can evoke memories. I can't wait until it is strawberry season here so I can try this.

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  20. Sean sounds like a handsome, awkward little boy. ;-) I love those old crushes!! My young crush and I would beg everyone to play spin the bottle! ...And then, this one time at band camp... LOL! Just kidding!! :)

    So! I really really love this. I am totally into lemon curd, but this strawberry curd will have to replace it. It sounds ahhhhmazin'!

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  21. Ah yes, I remember my summer camp crush! Her name was Jill, and I captured her during a game of capture the flag. Alas, she never wrote back to me once camp was over, so we are only left to wonder what might have been!

    This strawberry curd looks incredible. What a clever idea! My hometown bakery sold what they called "Bismarks"...a sort of fried jelly donut filled with a lemon curd. I am wondering how amazing they would be with this strawberry curd!

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  22. This is so gorgeous! Just the color alone makes me happy!

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  23. Awww what a sweet story. There's nothing like young love :) I'm so intrigued by the idea of strawberry curd, and am totally wondering why I've never thought to try it. I have a feeling I'd be on my couch with a spoon eating it...

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  24. Very sweet story, I love that you gave him a sock LOL! I adore lemon curd so I'm thinking strawberry curd would be right up there too, especially since my favorite color is pink!

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  25. whatever happened to sean???

    tell me you still have that atari tshirt!

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  26. Oooh, strawberry curd. Sounds perfect with angel food cake. Thanks for sharing. ~Mama B

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Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

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