Orange Curd… Two Ways

Although orange season peaks right around late winter, we are still getting gorgeous local, organic oranges in South Florida. I love oranges, mostly peeled, no need to cook them or juice them, just fresh. They bring back tons of childhood memories, mostly from around Christmas time. We used to just eat oranges as a dessert after dinner.

So I had a basket full of oranges at home and decided to make curd with them and fill some tart shells. I topped the tartlets with organic blackberries (can you believe the size of those things?… beautiful!) and finished them with a little bit of fresh basil. Not a lot, just a little chiffonade for extra freshness. But I had extra orange curd and I couldn’t decide what to make with it.

I went to bed on Friday and woke up in the middle of the night thinking about orange creamsicles. “I bet I can make them with my orange curd!”. So I woke up the next day, whipped up some cream with a little vanilla bean and folded the curd into it. To be honest with you, I didn’t even measure the cream. I just eyeballed it. I was afraid that they might turn out icy and not creamy enough but I decided to give it a try and see what happened. And it worked! They are very, very creamy.

Orange Curd

200 grams organic fresh orange juice, strained (about 2 oranges)
250 grams sugar
6 organic eggs
Zest of those 2 oranges
30 grams organic unsalted butter, softened

Whisk together the orange juice, sugar, orange zest and eggs. Cook over a double boiler constantly whisking until the custard starts to coagulate which will be around 84 degrees Celsius.
Strain the curd through a fine sieve and cool over an ice bath. When the curd is cool but still feels lukewarm when you touch it, add the softened butter and whisk it in until it melts into the curd forming an emulsion.

Orange, Blackberry and Basil Tarts

Right after incorporating the butter into the curd and while this is still pretty liquid, pour it into the prebaked tart shells and refrigerate until it sets. Top with fresh organic blackberries and a little bit of basil chiffonade.

Orange Creamsicles

Whip 100 grams of heavy cream with half a vanilla bean (only use the seeds, that is). When it’s soft peak, add about half of the orange curd that remains after filling the tartlets and fold. But don’t fold completely because we want to create streaks of orange and white. Pipe this mixture into your shot glasses and insert an ice cream stick. Freeze.

To eat them, all you need to do is lightly warm the shot glass with your hands and the creamsicle will pop right out. So easy!

These recipes will be my entry for the Root Source Challenge: Eggs. I think the deadline is today. Hurry up!