Lime (With A Hint Of Ginger) Curd
If you’ve never made a curd, make this one. Easier than you think as long as you just keep whisking. It’s creamy and citrusy and goes with just about everything. I’ve adapted this recipe to make 4 cups of the good stuff and trust me, you’ll be spooning it out of a jar at 1 am. But, if you’re not me, you can also spread it between layers of cake, or put it on anything from yogurt and berries to crusty toasted bread.
Ingredients :
6 large eggs
6 egg yolks
2 sheets of ‘gold’ gelatin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lime zest, about 10 large limes, depending on size
1 cup fresh lime juice, well strained
3 tbl grated ginger, on a microplane
Pinch of sea salt
12 tbl unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1/2” dice, at room temperature (I like to use good tasty french butter)
Preparation :
Bloom gelatin in 2 cups of cold water for 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, yolks, sugar, lime zest, juice, ginger and sea salt. Make sure no egg whites are present.
Pour mixture into a large heavy bottomed stockpot, preferably nonstick. On medium-low heat whisk the curd mixture constantly until it begins to thicken. I also like to use a silicone coated whisk as to not scratch the pan and helps with sticky curd. Should take about 8 minutes. Making sure the sides and and bottom aren’t cooking too fast. We don’t want to ‘cook’ the eggs, but we want to heat all the ingredients at the same time.
Once thickened, remove from heat. Drain the gelatin by squeezing out excess water. Whisk into curd mixture quickly, until dissolved.
Then, whisk in butter a few cubes at a time. Adding more once the ones added before are incorporated. The curd will be warm and slowly melt the butter, gently incorporating the richness.
Once all the butter is incorporated, strain the mixture though a fine mesh sieve. Removing all the zest and ginger and any gelatin or eggs that didn’t dissolve. This is an important step.
Once strained, should be about 4 cups, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd and chill for at least 6 hours.
Once fully chilled, use as desired. So, jar it, spoon it over yogurt, spread it on toast, or fill a moist buttermilk cake!
