Learning to make lemon curd is life-changing! Once you start making lemon curd from scratch at home, you will become a lemon curd snob and you will come to hate the store-bought stuff, which pales in comparison.

Ingredients

Lemon curd is made from a simple list of ingredients, specifically:

• fresh lemons—the flavour of lemon curd is superior if you use freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest. Store-bought lemon juice sold in bottles is not a good baking substitution for lemon juice in this recipe.
• egg yolks or whole eggs—these help thicken the curd and provide body. The yolks contribute to the bright yellow colour, making it look less creamy
• sugar—use granulated sugar because the goal is to sweeten and enhance the lemon flavour without masking the acidity or interfering with it. Other sugars may overpower the lemon flavour.
• butter—I use unsalted butter here but a little salt in this recipe can enhance the flavours, but too much will interfere. If you want to experiment with salted butter, I recommend starting with a semi-salt butter to avoid adding too much salt to the curd.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Additional Ingredients (Optional)

Other ingredients that you may see in lemon curd recipes help to make the curd thicker and more stable. These ingredients include:

• Gelatin or agar agar helps to trap water, thickening the curd and stabilizing it. For example, for the blackberry curd, I added gelatin because the curd is a filling for a layer cake and needs to be stable enough to hold the weight of the layers.
• Starches or flour also helps thicken the curd, like in pastry cream. I tend to avoid these because I find starches and flour dull the flavour of lemon curd.

Important Note About Tools and Equipment

The pH of lemon juice is low, between 2 and 3. This means that you have to be careful with the cookware and bakeware you use when cooking lemon curd and baking lemon bars or anything else that contains a lot of lemon. Make sure to use high quality stainless steel tools. For example I use my OXO whisk to make lemon curd. I once used a dollar store whisk and the flavour was metallic and inedible.

Avoid uncoated aluminum bakeware (sometimes called "natural aluminum") and copper pots which are reactive. Favour anodized aluminum or aluminized steel bakeware, or bakeware with a coating on it.

How to Make Lemon Curd on the Stove

There are a few ways to mix the ingredients to make lemon curd and a few ways to cook them to achieve the perfect set. It's all dependent on comfort and skill levels. I prefer to make curd stepwise directly on the stove, as opposed to one-bowl methods in the microwave or over a double boiler.

Step 1—whisk the egg yolks with part of the sugar in a medium bowl (image 1) until they have lightened in colour (image 2), Meanwhile combine the lemon juice and the rest of the sugar (image 3) and bring it almost to a boil directly on the stove.

Vocabulary: "Blanchir les oeuf," is the French pastry term for whisking the eggs with the sugar until they are lightened in colour (instead of orange-yellow hue). You do this step to avoid leaving the eggs to sit with the sugar, which can cause the proteins to coagulate, like the eggs are hard cooked.

Step 2—Pour the hot lemon juice over the whisked egg mixture to temper the eggs (image 4). Whisk the mixture until it's homogenous and has a thin foam on the top (image 5).

Vocabulary: Once the eggs and sugar have been whipped and the sweet lemon mixture on the stove is hot, the hot liquid is poured over the eggs, while whisking. The baking term for this step is "tempering the eggs". The goal is to gently raise the temperature of the eggs so that they are warm without shocking them on the stove.

Step 3—Transfer the lemon curd mixture back to the saucepan (image 6) and heat it on low until it almost comes to a boil. You will notice that when the lemon curd is done cooking, it coats the back of a wooden spoon, is glossy and bright, and the foam has completely disappeared (image 7).

Note: Though I like to check on the texture with a wooden spoon, I prefer to use a whisk when I cook lemon curd to ensure that the curd doesn't catch on the bottom and scorch or burn. It's more likely to happen if you stir it with a spoon directly on the stove.

Step 4—Add the butter to the lemon curd (image 8) and stir it in (either with a whisk or a wooden spoon). It should melt in completely and disappear. The goal is not to incorporate air at this stage so don't whip it excessively. Pour the lemon curd through a strainer set over a large measuring cup (image 9) and strain it to remove any bits of cooked egg yolk or lemon pulp/zest. Cover with plastic wrap applied directly to the surface of the curd (image 10).

Top Tip: Lemon Curd Setting Temperature

Fruit curds have to be heated to above a certain temperature to set properly, just like marmalade has a setting temperature. This is especially important if you want to use lemon curd to fill cakes, tarts, and bars.

For example, these easy lemon bars are made from a 1-2-3 shortbread cookie crust topped with lemon curd, which was cooked on the stove. To be able to cut these bars, the lemon curd has to be cooked, almost to the boiling point, so between 77ºC and 93 ºC (170 ºF to 200 ºF). You can go higher (and even boil it), but there is more risk of hard-cooked bits of egg in your curd, ruining the texture.

Lemon Curd Variations and Spinoffs

You can take this base recipe and adapt it to make passion fruit curd (which I used to make passion fruit matcha tarts) or even grapefruit curd (which I used to make coconut sandwich cookies). The same principle behind this recipe is used to make a blackberry curd that is stabilized with gelatin to fill this Milk Bar-style blackberry almond layer cake.

Once you've mastered making lemon curd, you can take this technique and use it to make these easy lemon bars. You can also fold lemon curd into whipped cream to make lemon mousse. Lemon curd makes a great topping for cakes:

• you can spoon it over a pavlova with whipped cream and fresh berries.
• top a gluten-free lemon cake with a thick layer of lemon curd and fresh raspberries for another show-stopping dessert!
• I love to serve gingerbread cake with lemon curd

Fruit Curd FAQs

If you tried this recipe for the best lemon curd (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Lemon Curd

This recipe yields a creamy lemon curd that works great sandwiched between cookies or spread on toast, or even as a filling for layer cakes and lemon bars.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Calories 39kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• ChefAlarm thermometer
• OXO balloon whisk

Ingredients

• 170 mL fresh lemon juice
• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 8 large egg yolk(s)
• 150 grams unsalted butter cut into pieces

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, combine the lemon juice with half the granulated sugar. Set on a burner on medium–high heat.
• Meanwhile in a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar. Whisk vigorously until the mixture turns a very pale, light yellow. Set aside.
• Place another bowl with a strainer over top next to the stove, and have the chopped butter ready on a plate close by as well. Have a heatproof spatula ready too. Do all this before going any further.
• When the lemon juice just comes to a boil, take the pot off the burner and pour the juice over the sugary egg mixture. Whisk to temper the eggs and combine all the ingredients together. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return the pot back onto the burner. Whisk the mixture over medium–low heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and clings to it. You can use a thermometer to monitor the temperature: a properly cooked lemon curd is cooked to 77ºC and 93 ºC (170 ºF to 200 ºF).
• After the curd has reached the right set and temperature, immediately take the pot off the burner and turn it off. Drop the butter into the saucepan, whisking constantly.
• When all the butter has melted into the curd and disappeared, transfer it to the strainer set over a bowl. Collect the curd in the bowl, then cover with cling film pressed directly on the surface to protect it from the air. Chill overnight.

Notes

• For the brightest, best flavour, please use freshly squeezed lemon juice from fresh lemons
• Do not substitute the lemon juice sold in bottles at the grocery store! It won't yield the same flavour or colour.
• You can also add lemon zest along with the juice. Make sure to strain the curd to remove the bits of zest which will ruin the smooth texture of the curd otherwise.
• For a thicker lemon curd, I have brought it up to a boil, but there is more risk of lumps of cooked egg.
• Beware of the material of your bakeware and cookware. Use high-quality stainless steel to avoid imparting a metallic flavour to your curd.
• Calories calculated per teaspoon of curd.

Nutrition

Calories: 39kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 10mg | Fiber: 0.02g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 63IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.1mg

The post How to Make Lemon Curd appeared first on The Bake School.

Whipped cream makes a great topping for baked goods, like this fallen chocolate cake or this Earl Grey chocolate tart. You can even use it to make layer cakes, like this Black Forest cake. You can also use it as a garnish for beverages like hot chocolate and hot cocoa.

Ingredients

The beauty of whipped cream is that it takes just a few ingredients to make and yet it is so versatile! Here's what you need to make homemade whipped cream:

• cream—use cream with a higher fat content, around 35–40 % fat.
• sugar—you can technically use either granulated sugar or icing sugar. Granulated sugar will give the whipped cream a slightly grainy texture.
• vanilla—both vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste will work here. Use the same amount of either. Alternatively, you can scrape a vanilla bean and add the seeds, but the flavour may be more subtle without extracting it.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Instructions

You can use a stand mixer, an electric hand mixer, or just a balloon whisk to whip the cream by hand. If using an electric mixer, be careful because it's very easy to overwhip the cream. It can happen in seconds!

Step 1: Place the cold whipping cream in a cold bowl (image 1) and whip it until soft peaks form (image 2). Soft peaks means that the cream will not hold its shape at this point and will be very supple and soft.

Tip: Make sure you start the process with cold whipping cream, taken directly from the fridge. If the cream is warm or has sat out for a period, it will not do a good job of trapping air and you will have a difficult time trying to incorporate air into the foam, which will be less stable. Use cold cream to make whipped cream!

Step 2: Add the vanilla and the icing sugar to the soft whipped cream (image 3) then continue to whip the cream until it is firm but still supple (image 4).

Hint: if you are making mousse, it's actually better to leave the whipped cream quite soft to make incorporating the other ingredients easier. If the cream is too firm, it will take more effort to incorporate mousse ingredients together and you will deflate it.

Recipes with Whipped Cream

If you tried this recipe for whipped cream (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Whipped Cream

Learn how to make perfect whipped cream with this easy recipe. This vanilla whipped cream is sweetened with icing sugar and flavoured with vanilla bean paste for a lovely topping that can also be used as a filling or frosting for cakes.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 122kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

• 250 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
• 25 grams icing sugar
• 5 mL vanilla bean paste

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a bowl, using either an electric hand mixer or a balloon whisk, whip the cream to soft peaks.
• Add the icing sugar and vanilla, and continue whipping until the whipping cream is thick, but supple. Use immediately. Do not overwhip.

Notes

• Temperature is key when you whip cream. Make sure your cream is fridge-cold because cold cream will do a better job of trapping air in a foam than warm cream. 
• You can add a few ingredients to stabilize whipped cream. Your best bet is to add gelatin, either powdered gelatin or gelatin sheets, which will trap the water, preventing it from separating out upon storage. To do this, for ever cup of whipping cream, use ⅛ + ¼ teaspoon powdered gelatin or ½ sheet of leaf gelatin (~1.7 grams). For powdered gelatin, bloom it in cold milk, then heat it gently to melt the gelatin. For leaf gelatin, soften it in cold water, then squeeze the excess water and melt it in a small amount of cold milk (or cream) on low heat. Remember the melting temperature of gelatin is around 32 °C (90 °C). If you overheat the gelatin, you will damage the proteins, and it won't stabilize the cream properly. Let it cool slightly before incorporating with your whipped cream.
• Althernative stabilizers are cream cheese or mascarpone. These will alter the flavour of the whipped cream slightly but they stabilize quite well! Start with 56 grams (2 ounces) of cream cheese or mascarpone, whipping until smooth before adding the cream.
• To flavour whipped cream:
  • Vanilla - use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste interchangeably
  • Coffee - add a shot of cold espresso or use espresso powder
  • Chocolate - fold in cooled melted chocolate (watch how thick it will become as it sets! This is chocolate mousse!)
  • Lemon - fold in lemon curd
  • Tea - add finely chopped Earl Grey tea leaves (the taste will be subtle but the look is very pretty like on this Earl Grey chocolate tart!)
  • Alcohol - add a liqueur like Kahluà or Amaretto, or even brandy or cognac

Nutrition

Calories: 122kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 30mg | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 462IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.03mg

The post How to Make Whipped Cream appeared first on The Bake School.

Pastry cream is a versatile filling for fruit tarts, millefeuilles (layered between sheets of baked puff pastry), Boston cream pie (layered between vanilla cake layers), éclairs (and other pâte and other elaborate desserts, and trifles sandwiched between layers of hot milk cake. You will love it as a filling for strawberry crêpes for breakfast! When pastry cream is still warm, it will have a soft pudding texture. Once chilled down in the fridge, pastry cream can be quite gelatinous, depending on the ingredients and ratios used.

Crème pâtissière is the French baking term for pastry cream or custard filling (not to be confused with custard sauce, a.k.a. crème anglaise). In Italian, it's called crema pasticcera.

Jump to:

• Ingredients To Make Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière)
• Variations and Substitutions
• How To Make Pastry Cream From Scratch
• Pastry Cream Uses
• Pro Tip
• Pastry Cream FAQs
• Related
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients To Make Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière)

It's a common misconception that pastry cream contains cream. As you can see from the rundown of ingredients listed below and the recipe card, there is no cream! Here's what you need to make great pastry cream:

• milk—pastry cream is not made with cream, which is a common misconception. It's made with milk (full fat—3.25 % fat or partially skimmed—2 % fat)
• sugar—regular granulated sugar or special fine sugar produces the cleanest flavour
• eggs—either whole eggs or egg yolks. Egg yolks produce a more yellow colour and a richer, smoother texture and taste
• thickener(s)—can be all-purpose flour, cornstarch, or a combination of both, depending on how thick you need the pastry cream to be
• vanilla—you can use either vanilla extract, vanilla paste, or vanilla bean, adding it at different steps depending on which you choose to work with.
  • vanilla bean: add it to the milk and heat them together to infuse the milk with the bean before tempering the eggs
  • vanilla paste: add it off the heat, whisking it into the hot pastry cream after cooking it
  • vanilla extract: add it off the heat, whisking it into the hot pastry cream after cooking it

See recipe card for more information about ingredients and quantities.

Variations and Substitutions

The key to flavouring pastry cream is to infuse the milk. You will steep the flavour ingredient in the milk as it warms on the stove, infusing the milk with the flavour extracted from the dry ingredients. Whatever flavour elements you add can be strained out at the end of the cooking process anyways, so don't worry about the texture it might create.

• Vanilla - use vanilla extract (adding it after cooking, off the heat), vanilla bean paste (adding after cooking), or vanilla bean (adding it to the milk before heating)
• Chocolate - you can use chocolate milk instead of the milk to make chocolate-flavoured pastry cream, reducing the sugar slightly to compensate for the beverage's sweetness. Or you can make a regular vanilla pastry cream and then whisk chocolate into the hot pastry cream before straining
• Coffee - add coffee grinds to the milk before heating so that the coffee infuses into it
• Tea - add tea leaves to the milk before heating it to infuse it, as we did to make the frosting for the Earl Grey layer cake
• Maple - replace the sugar with maple sugar. You may also use some maple extract to reinforce the delicate flavour
• Orange - infuse the milk with orange zest
• Sesame - infuse the milk with sesame seeds, like in this black sesame pastry cream

Tip: When flavouring pastry cream, add as little liquid as possible once the pastry cream is cooked or else you risk creating a runny pastry cream.

Another option is to add flavour extracts, natural or artificial. These are more delicate, like vanilla extract. You will add these after boiling the pastry cream and off the heat.

Remember that you use vanilla extract, vanilla paste, and vanilla beans in different ways. Read all about vanilla in baking to find out more information about what they are and the different ways of using them.

How To Make Pastry Cream From Scratch

The techniques for making pastry cream and crème anglaise are quite similar, with a few key differences. Here's a breakdown of what you need to do to make a custard filling as opposed to a custard sauce.

Step 1: whisk the egg yolks with part of the sugar (image 1) and the starch/flour (image 2). The mixture should be very smooth and lump-free (image 3).

Step 2: Heat the milk in a saucepan on the stove with the rest of the sugar and the vanilla bean (if using) (image 4). Pour the hot milk mixture over the whisked egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs (image 5). Transfer the hot egg-milk mixture back to the saucepan (image 6).

Tip: if you are using a whole vanilla bean, split it open to release the beautiful caviar hidden inside so that everybody knows you used the real thing! Add the split vanilla bean to the pot of milk and sugar, and then heat them together.

Step 3: Heat the pastry cream on the stove to bring it up to a boil. It will start out very thin and pale in colour (image 7), but once it boils, it will become thicker and have a more pronounced yellow tint to it (image 8)

Step 4: Strain the pastry cream into a clean bowl or on a plastic wrap-lined sheet pan to remove the vanilla bean and any lumps (image 9). Spread the pastry cream in an even layer (image 10) then place another layer of plastic wrap directly in contact with the surface of the thick custard (image 11). You will need to chill the pastry cream in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Step 5: Before using pastry cream, uncover it and whisk it well. Cold pastry cream will be very thick and gelatinous (image 12) but will loosen up once whisked into a smooth, creamy thick filling (image 13).

Pastry Cream Uses

Pastry cream is one of the big building block recipes in pastry. Here's what you can do with it:

• Use it as a filling, as is, to stuff tarts (like a classic strawberry tart), crêpes, cakes, and also pâte à choux-based pastries like éclairs
• Lighten it with butter to make a crème mousseline (like for this framboisier cake recipe where the cake filling is paired with raspberries). You can also use pastry cream to make German buttercream by whipping it with lots of butter
• Combine it with almond cream to make frangipane and use it as a filling for tarts

Pastry Cream FAQs

Related

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

If you tried this pastry cream recipe (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream

Vanilla pastry cream is a basic recipe that you should master. It's great for serving with crêpes for breakfast but also as a filling for tarts, cakes, and éclairs!

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Chill time 3 hours hours

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 205kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

Pastry cream

• 500 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 100 grams granulated sugar divided
• 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
• 45 mL bleached all-purpose flour
• 15 mL cornstarch
• 2 large egg(s)
• 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract

Metric - US

Instructions

• Heat the milk on medium–high heat in a medium saucepan with half of the sugar and the split vanilla beans (seeds scraped into the pot).
• Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture has lightened in color, then add in the flour and starch, and whisk again to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. The mixture should be smooth.
• When the milk is hot and almost boiling, pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, whisking continuously until the mixture is homogeneous. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and continue heating it, whisking constantly until the mixture has thickened and boiled for about 3 minutes.
• Take the mixture off the heat. Transfer to a plastic-wrap lined rimmed sheet (or a bowl over an ice bath). Spread out the pastry cream evenly over the entire plastic wrap-covered surface. Top with another piece of plastic wrap to seal it, making sure the plastic wrap is in direct contact with the filling. Transfer the pan to the fridge and let cool completely, at least 3 hours or overnight.
• When you are ready to use it, transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and re-whip it with a whisk to smooth it out and loosen it so that you can spread it or pipe it.

Notes

• Make sure to read through the entire blog post and recipe, including the notes before proceeding so that you are familiar with the steps and what each ingredient in the recipe does.
• Remember to make pastry cream ahead of time because it has to cool, depending on what you plan to do with it. You can use flour, cornstarch, or a combination of both to make pastry cream. Which thickener you use is dependent on what you plan to do with the filling.
  • For a tart that you want to slice cleanly, the filling must hold its shape, so you will use more cornstarch and less flour.
  • For a crêpe filling, the pastry cream can be looser, and so you will only use flour.
• Pastry cream must come up to a boil and boil for several minutes, not only to thicken it, but also to make it safe to consume as it is made with flour and eggs, which need to be cooked.
• Strain the pastry cream to remove lumps and make sure it is creamy and smooth.
• Always cover pastry cream with plastic wrap in direct contact to avoid it drying out or forming a skin on the surface.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 205kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 358mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 293IU | Vitamin C: 74mg | Calcium: 128mg | Iron: 2mg

The post How To Make Pastry Cream appeared first on The Bake School.

What it is

Dulce de leche is a sweet, caramelized milk spread that is very common in Latin America. It's also called milk jam. You can smear it on toast, especially brioche, or you can use it as a filling for cakes and cookies.

How it's different than caramel

Dulce de leche and salted caramel sauce are not the same thing. With dulce de leche, milk and sugar (or sweetened condensed milk) are cooked to make a thick, spreadable caramelized milk jam. On the other hand, for caramel sauce, the sugar is cooked alone, sometimes with water and corn syrup or glucose to prevent crystallization. The dairy (cream and/or butter) is added after sugar caramelization occurs.

Caramel has a deeper flavour coming from the burnt sugar notes from the different cooking process. Some love it and some hate it for that reason. Though the processes can seem quite similar, the flavour and outcome of making dulce de leche versus caramel are quite different.

Note that you can further cook caramel sauce to make a thicker filling or soft caramels, and it's likely that you could do the same with dulce de leche.

Ways of making it from scratch

There are several ways of making dulce de leche at home. Some start with cans of sweetened condensed milk, others start from milk and sugar. It's a delicate process to caramelize sweet milk and it takes time. The goal is to darken the colour of the milk to a deep mahogany, while also caramelizing the sugars and milk solids, developing the flavour, and thickening the mixture to a spreadable, thick consistency.

Whether you start with cans of sweetened condensed milk or a combination of milk and sugar, all of these methods work fine. But some require constant stirring and all of them take at least an hour.

Comparing store-bought dulce de leches

You might not have a couple of hours to make dulce de leche, and that's okay! I compared three brands of dulce de leche that were available at my local supermarket to find the best:

• Bonne Maman (available on Amazon), a brand from France that is known for its jams
• Caramella (available on Amazon), from Argentina, and one I had high expectations for because of where it's made.
• Eagle Brand, from Canada, a brand that is better known for the evaporated and sweetened condensed milks

Comparing consistency and flavour

Caramella was the thickest, while Eagle Brand was really too runny. I felt like the Caramella dulce de leche had the best texture: thick and spreadable enough that it would probably make a good cake filling  Unfortunately, the Caramella dulce de leche didn't taste great, but it wasn't the worst flavoured. Interestingly, the Caramella brand was the only one that contained vanilla, which made it taste artificial and just didn't work on my taste buds.

My least favourite was the Bonne Maman dulce de leche. It had a pudding-cup-like consistency, and it had a tangy taste. Turns out that this dulce de leche is thickened with pectin and contains sodium citrate. My guess the latter is the cause of the "tangy", uncharacteristic flavour. Honestly, Bonne Maman dulce de leche isn't great. I would never buy it again. Sorry, Bonne Maman. I still like your jams (especially your rhubarb jam), but your dulce de leche kind of sucks.

Hands down, between the three, there's only one dulce de leche I'd buy again: Eagle Brand. The flavour was great with a sweet, "natural" flavour: no weird tanginess from sodium citrate and no pectin added. However, it was so thin it would just run off a spoon. In the end, I much preferred the Eagle Brand dulce de leche, which I ranked as the best dulce de leche brand, even if it was more of a sauce than a spread.

My solution to the consistency problem: boil it down, stirring constantly over medium–high heat (don't put it on high because it will catch and burn on the bottom, and if you think you are going to get pulled away from your simmering dulce de leche, best to lower the temperature of the stove or do this step later). In about 8 minutes, with constant stirring, I managed to turn the puddling liquid dulce de leche into a very thick caramel. For a caramel that is more spreadable, I'd probably simmer it for 6 minutes.

Tip: If your store-bought or homemade dulce de leche is too thin to use as a cake filling, boil it down to thicken it!

How it's used

Dulce de leche has a caramelized flavour and a thick, gooey texture. It makes a great spread at breakfast served with this easy brioche kneaded in the stand mixer (after all, it is called milk jam for a reason!). It's also a great filling for cake recipes and cookie recipes. You can pipe dulce de leche onto cake layers you are stacking to make a layer cake. You can also sandwich it between shortbread cookies to make the most delicious alfajores cookies.

Storage

You can keep dulce de leche sold in a sealed jar or can, unopened, for several years, but always check the label for an expiry date (or use by date). Once opened, store the jar in refrigerator. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

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How To Thicken Dulce De Leche

If you want to use dulce de leche to fill cakes or cookies, it has to be thick. Here's a trick for achieving the right consistency in just a few minutes!

Course Condiment

Cuisine Latin American

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Wooden spoon

Ingredients

• dulce de leche homemade or store-bought

Instructions

• Pour the dulce de leche sauce into a medium saucepan and place over medium-high heat.
• Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil for 5 to 8 minutes or until the desired consistency is reached (if you get to the point where the mixture is bubbling like thick, hot lava, your caramel will be very thick).
• Transfer the mixture to a deep bowl and then blitz it with an immersion blender to get rid of any lumps (if you have any), while the mixture is still warm.
• Transfer to a jar and store in the fridge.

The post Comparison of store-bought dulce de leche appeared first on The Bake School.

What it is

Dulce de leche is a sweet, caramelized milk spread that is very common in Latin America. It's also called milk jam. You can smear it on toast, especially brioche, or you can use it as a filling for cakes and cookies.

How it's different than caramel

Dulce de leche and salted caramel sauce are not the same thing. With dulce de leche, milk and sugar (or sweetened condensed milk) are cooked to make a thick, spreadable caramelized milk jam. On the other hand, for caramel sauce, the sugar is cooked alone, sometimes with water and corn syrup or glucose to prevent crystallization. The dairy (cream and/or butter) is added after sugar caramelization occurs.

Caramel has a deeper flavour coming from the burnt sugar notes from the different cooking process. Some love it and some hate it for that reason. Though the processes can seem quite similar, the flavour and outcome of making dulce de leche versus caramel are quite different.

Note that you can further cook caramel sauce to make a thicker filling or soft caramels, and it's likely that you could do the same with dulce de leche.

Ways of making it from scratch

There are several ways of making dulce de leche at home. Some start with cans of sweetened condensed milk, others start from milk and sugar. It's a delicate process to caramelize sweet milk and it takes time. The goal is to darken the colour of the milk to a deep mahogany, while also caramelizing the sugars and milk solids, developing the flavour, and thickening the mixture to a spreadable, thick consistency.

There are a few ways of making dulce de leche from sweetened condensed milk:

1. boil the sealed can of sweetened condensed milk in a water bath for several hours (note this can be dangerous if the water bath boils down, there is a risk of burning the pot, or worse)
2. boil the sealed can of sweetened condensed milk in a pressure cooker (this is not recommended by the companies that manufacture sweetened condensed milk because there's a risk of explosion)
3. decant the can of condensed milk into a saucepan and heat it on the stove, stirring often, to caramelize it without it scorching or sticking on the bottom—this takes 1 to 2 hours depending on how low you heat it
4. decant the can of condensed milk into a baking dish and heat it, covered, in a water bath in the oven for almost an hour at 425 ºF

You can also opt to start with milk and sugar, stirring it on the stove for an hour or more to achieve the same result.

Whether you start with cans of sweetened condensed milk or a combination of milk and sugar, all of these methods work fine. But some require constant stirring and all of them take at least an hour.

How it's used

Dulce de leche has a caramelized flavour and a thick, gooey texture. It makes a great spread at breakfast (after all, it is called milk jam for a reason!). It's also a great filling for cakes and cookies. You can pipe dulce de leche onto cake layers you are stacking to make a layer cake. You can also sandwich it between shortbread cookies to make the most delicious alfajores cookies.

The chemistry of dulce de leche

There are several key processes that happen when making dulce de leche: evaporation, caramelization, and Maillard browning.

Evaporation

Depending on the method you use to make dulce de leche, more or less evaporation can occur leading to a thicker or thinner product. In a closed vessel, like a can, there isn't any evaporation that occurs, whereas on the stove in a pot, uncovered, evaporation occurs for the duration of the cooking process, leading to a more concentrated spread and potentially a thicker or more gooey texture.

With this dulce de leche recipe, you start with 1 litre (4 cups) of milk, which is concentrated down to only 375 mL (1-½ cups)! This means that much of the water has evaporated and the flavours and other compounds have concentrated, leading to a more flavourful spread.

Caramelization

Making dulce de leche is much like making caramel in that the sugar transforms from white to dark. The sugar breaks down and reacts, transforming into colourful, flavourful compounds. In the case of caramel, the sugar is the only ingredient to caramelize and the dairy is usually added later.

With dulce de leche, both the milk and sugar are cooked together in a slow process where both undergo caramelization. Remember that milk contains sugar, specifically in the form of lactose, which is a disaccharide made from glucose and galactose. Just like sucrose, lactose will also caramelize if you heat it enough.

Caramelization not only causes a colour change but also a flavour change, bringing more smoky notes and a deeper, more complex flavour. The more colour you achieve, the more flavour.

Maillard browning reactions

Maillard browning reactions occur at high pH (meaning basic or alkaline) in the presence of proteins and sugars. High pH speeds up the reaction, though it can occur at lower pH over much longer periods of time. Higher temperature combined with high pH, proteins, and sugars, can also speed up the process, but again, browning can also occur at room temperature if you give it enough time.

Knowing the impact of pH on browning, some methods call for baking soda, a base and common chemical leavener. The baking soda encourages browning through Maillard browning reactions. However, if you add too much baking soda, you will taste it!

You may also notice that some commercial dulce de leche may contain ingredients like milk solids, powdered milk, or even lactose. These are all ways of adding more protein and/ or sugar to increase the browning and/or caramelization products without adding more water. Basically, these compounds add more flavour.

The flavour of Maillard reaction products is different than caramelization products because of the proteins that react, contributing nitrogen and even sulfur to the products formed, yielding a distinct flavour.

Making dulce de leche from milk

Ingredients

To make it at home, you only need a few ingredients:

• whole milk (or 2 % milk)
• granulated sugar
• baking soda (optional but it helps with browning)

See recipe card for quantities.

Special tools

I make dulce de leche in a pot on the stove, stirring with a wooden spoon, and then I store it in mason jars, so you don't need anything special to do this recipe. However, I would like to mention that boiling milk rises up significantly so you need to use a pot that is at least 4 quarts or 4 litres to boil 1 litre of milk. I've tested this recipe in a 3 quart (2.8 L) pot and it boiled over.

Method

Once your ingredients are gathered, all you have to do is bring the milk and sugar up to the boil in the pot, then add the baking soda, and continue heating to thicken and brown the mixture until it has the consistency of a thick caramel sauce.

You can check the consistency on the back of a spoon, or dollop a little on a saucer (like the plate test you do when you make marmalade).

Storage

Transfer the homemade dulce de leche to a clean jar, and once cooled, you can close the jar and refrigerate it. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Substitutions

Even though this recipe only has a few of ingredients, you can make a few substitutions:

• If you prefer to start from sweetened condensed milk, follow the recipe as written but omit the sugar.
• If you want to make a lactose-free version, you can replace the milk with lactose-free milk. I wouldn't make any other substitutions.
• If you want to make a non-dairy version, coconut milk is what is most commonly used. You can even buy sweetened condensed coconut milk if you'd rather start from that (and then omit the sugar in the recipe).

Variations

You can infuse the milk with a variety of flavours, including:

• a vanilla bean
• whole spices (crushed green cardamom seeds, cinnamon stick, etc)

And if you find that this is all too much for you, you can always buy dulce de leche at the store. Here's a comparison of store-bought kinds (including a tip for how to thicken dulce de leche if it's too thin!).

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Dulce De Leche without Condensed Milk

Learn how to make dulce de leche without condensed milk, from milk and sugar, with this this easy recipe! This stove-top dulce de leche takes some time but the steps are very simple and make the best homemade dulce de leche!

Course Condiment

Cuisine Latin American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 24 tablespoons

Calories 73kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Wooden spoon
• Rondeau pan

Ingredients

• 1 L milk (2 %)
• 300 grams granulated sugar
• 60 mL water
• 2.5 mL baking soda

Metric - US

Instructions

• Pour the milk and sugar in a large pot (at least 4 quarts or 4 litres) and place over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture comes up to a boil.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the water and baking soda. Stir to dissolve the baking soda.
• When the milk comes to a boil, take the pot off the heat and stir in the dissolved baking soda.
• Put the pot back on the burner and bring the milk back up to a boil, reduce the heat and continue to simmer the milk for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until it has caramelized and reached the desired consistency. As the mixture gets thicker, you will have to stir more and more so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
• Transfer to a jar and let cool to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Notes

Note that you can infuse the milk with a vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste to make vanilla-flavoured dulce de leche.

Nutrition

Calories: 73kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 45mg | Potassium: 63mg | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 68IU | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg

Frequently asked questions

The post How to make dulce de leche appeared first on The Bake School.

What you will need to make this recipe

This is a variation on the traditional mincemeat so most of the ingredients are quite standard across all recipes, with a few exceptions. To make this filling for Christmas baking, you will need:

• dried fruit—I like a mixture of raisins and currants
• apple, preferably a baking apple variety that doesn't break down with heat
• mixed candied peel or any candied peel whether orange, lemon, or citron
• unsalted butter or grated suet, which helps provide body and richness to the filling
• brown sugar, though granulated sugar would also work. Maple sugar would work well here as well, though maple syrup would add extra water that may have to be boiled off to thicken the filling
• warm spices, like cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, and allspice
• fresh citrus, both orange and lemon, for the juice and the zest to balance out the sweetness of the filling
• brandy, though a similar alcohol like cognac could also work.

Substitutions and variations

Traditional mincemeat recipes will differ from the one below in a few ways.

Butter versus suet

Some older recipes are made with suet instead of butter. Suet comes from the fat surrounding the kidneys of cows and also mutton (though in Canada, it's usually from cows). Suet is 100 % fat, whereas butter is only around 82 % fat.

Suet has a longer shelf-life and has a higher melting point than butter. This means it is more stable, especially when stored in the fridge or freezer in an airtight container. If you want to make mincemeat filling up to a year before using it, you are better off using suet and storing the mincemeat in the fridge. Substitute the same amount of suet for the butter in the recipe below and it will work fine.

Nuts

Nuts, specifically chopped walnuts, are added in some classic recipes. Pecans may also be substituted. I prefer the texture of mincemeat filling without nuts, so this recipe doesn't have them and therefore is nut-free. By all means, you can add chopped nuts to this recipe if you'd like.

Alcohol

I add a little brandy to the mincemeat. It adds a nice flavour without being boozy. Plus usually mincemeat tarts are served around the holidays and at Christmas, so it's nice to add a little brandy to make them fancy.

By all means, don't feel obliged to add it. You can skip it altogether and the recipe will work great as a filling for mincemeat tarts and pies!

Other substitutions

This recipe relies heavily on raisins. I use golden raisins and either sultanas or Thompson raisins and the total volume in the filling for these two is 2.5 cups. That's a lot of raisins. If you don't like raisins, you can try other dried fruit, like chopped dried apricots or even dried cranberries. This will obviously change the flavour a little, but feel free to experiment.

As for the apple in the recipe, I prefer to use a firm apple that doesn't break down when cooked. In Canada, we'd favour a Gala apple, a Honey Crisp, a Granny Smith, or perhaps a Golden Delicious apple or even a Cortland apple could work. Macintosh apples wouldn't work as well in this recipe because they break down and turn to sauce with heat.

If you don't want to use apples, you can replace it with a firm pear variety, which would work well here as well.

What you won't be using in this recipe

The technique used in this recipe is for a quick mincemeat. This means that the mincemeat is heated on the stove to encourage the dried fruit to absorb the liquid, thus speeding up the process. You'll notice with some older recipes, they may not heat the filling and instead are made months or even a year ahead and left to age in sealed jars. Recipes that include aging the filling for months are often heavier on the alcohol and may include more fat than what we have in the recipe below.

This recipe is not made with any thickener. It honestly doesn't need it! You may see some recipes that are made with tapioca starch or quick-cooking tapioca, or even flour. I find the thickener can make the filling too thick and gloopy, and can sometimes interfere with the flavour, so I prefer it without.

Another noteworthy point is that traditional mincemeat was once made with ground meat, also called mince, which is where the filling gets its name. For example, the recipe for homemade mincemeat in The Joy of Cooking calls for ground meat. This recipe is vegetarian (if you use butter) and does not call for ground meat or mince.

Once you've made mincemeat, you can use it to fill mincemeat tarts (which are also callled mincemeat pies or mince pies), instead of using store-bought filling. You can also incorporate it into cookie dough to make mincemeat cookies. Another idea: you could try using it as a filling for rugelach or pinwheels, with a cream cheese dough.

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Homemade Mincemeat Filling

This easy mincemeat recipe is quick to make and is excellent for mincemeat tarts and pies around Christmas time.

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 5 cups

Calories 46kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Wooden spoon

Ingredients

• 240 grams sultana raisins
• 145 grams dried currants
• 160 grams golden raisins
• 1 Gala apple peel on, cored and diced into small pieces
• 85 grams candied mixed peel (orange, lemon, citron)
• 115 grams unsalted butter or grated suet
• 200 grams light brown sugar
• 2.5 mL ground cinnamon
• 2.5 mL ground cloves
• 2.5 mL ground nutmeg
• 2.5 mL ground allspice
• 1 lemon zest and juice
• 1 navel orange zest and juice
• 60 mL brandy

Metric - US

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan, except for the brandy.
• Heat until the butter has completely melted and the sugar has dissolved. When the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes. This will give a chance for the dried fruit to absorb much of the liquid and for the filling to thicken a little. Note it will thicken more as it cools down.
• Remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the brandy. Pack into a jar and refrigerate.
• Divide between 250–500 mL jars (1–2 cup jars) and let the mixture cool completely before closing the jars and storing in the fridge.

Notes

Calories calculated per 15 mL (1 tablespoon) of filling.

Nutrition

Calories: 46kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 66mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 42IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Homemade mincemeat appeared first on The Bake School.

Salted caramel sauce is made from just 3 ingredients (4 if you count water)

All you need to make caramel sauce is a lot of sugar, whipping cream, butter, and a little water, which helps dissolve the sugar to form a syrup that is easier to work with, especially for beginner bakers. Other optional ingredients include vanilla extract (to give the caramel sauce more flavour), and salt (often sea salt), but you may skip the salt if you make your caramel sauce with salted butter.

Some recipes may include a splash of lemon juice or vinegar, or they may include a little glucose, corn syrup, or honey. These ingredients are optional and they are added to reduce the risk of the caramel sauce crystallizing at any point in the process. Florentine cookies are made with a little honey, not only adding flavour, but also preventing crystalllization.

Unsalted butter versus salted for making caramel sauce

The French baking term for salted caramel sauce is "caramel au beurre salé" because this is a recipe that can be made with salted butter. If you use salted butter, feel free to taste and adjust with a little extra salt (making sure to let the sample cool down BEFORE you try to eat it!). I find with most brands of salted butter, they provide plenty of salt. 

If you make this recipe with unsalted butter, you will have to add salt. Use up to 5 mL (1 teaspoon) of flaky sea salt or fine kosher salt (such as Diamond crystal). If you are using table salt, add less salt! Use half that amount, so 2.5 mL (½ teaspoon) of salt because table salt is saltier than sea salt and the baking substitution table salt and sea salt isn't 1-to-1.

The impact of temperature on flavour

The sugar in caramel sauce contributes the caramel flavour but that sugar has to be heated, otherwise it doesn't contribute much of any flavour and actually will make a sauce cloyingly sweet. The sugar breaks down when it's heated above a certain temperature, causing it to change colour (to amber-brown) and change flavour. Caramelization occurs above 330 ºF (165 ºC), at which point there is very little water left in the hot sugar syrup. Below this temperature, the mixture contains enough water that the sugar doesn't break down, but above that temperature, it does, leading to a colour change and also the development of flavour compounds.

Making caramel starts with dissolving the sugar in water, with the help of a gentle heat. The goal is to dissolve all the crystals to avoid any crystallization down the road. Once the sugar is dissolved, the syrup is heated past 330 ºF (165 ºF), at which point the water has mostly evaporated and the sugar begins to caramelize, changing colour and developing flavour.

The high temperature of hot caramel means that when you add the cream and the butter, the milk solids brown almost immediately, leading to even more flavour in the sauce.

Using a thermometer for caramel sauce

While I always recommend using a thermometer when you are making recipes that are sensitive to temperature, like those made by heating sugar, in this case, you don't need a thermometer. When you are making preserves, I always suggest using a digital instant-read thermometer to make sure you've hit the jam setting point. The same goes for if you are heating a sugar syrup to the soft ball temperature to make an Italian meringue buttercream or a batch of vanilla marshmallows.

For caramel sauce, I've found over the years that some thermometers aren't very accurate at higher temperatures and using a thermometer can be misleading and lead you to turning off the heat before the sugar has caramelized enough, leading to a blonder caramel that is more cloyingly sweet and less flavourful. For this reason, I encourage you to watch the sugar syrup as it boils. You will see it turn a pale yellow colour at the beginning of the process, and that colour will develop and deepen into a rich, dark amber, at which point you can safely turn off the heat and add the butter and the cream. You will obtain a rich tasting dark caramel sauce that is full of flavour.

While I suggest you don't use a thermometer to make caramel sauce, I do suggest you use one to make soft, chewy caramels. You can make caramels by heating caramel sauce (made from caramelized sugar, cream, and butter) to 250 ºF or 121 ºC, which is the firm ball stage of sugar syrups (which is in the middle of the hard ball temperature range which spans from 240 ºF and 265 ºF or from 116 ºC to 129 ºC). So if you cook the recipe below for caramel sauce to 250 ºF (121 ºC), and pour it in a buttered pan. Let the boiled caramel set in the pan and then cut into squares so you can share your chewy sea salt caramels.

Salted caramel sauce is a little different than dulce de leche, which is another flavourful sauce made from sweetened condensed milk that is heated until the sugar and milk solids caramelize. Both dulce de leche and caramel sauce make great glazes for bundt cakes, like to glaze this apple bundt cake, as well as fillings for layer cakes, like in this chocolate caramel cake. You can also swirl it into a batch of homemade vanilla bean ice cream or serve it with crêpes.

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Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted caramel is easy to make from just sugar, water, salted butter, and whipping cream with this recipe!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 33

Calories 98kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Pastry brush

Ingredients

• 125 mL water plus more for brushing sides of pan
• 400 grams granulated sugar
• 115 grams salted butter cut into cubes
• 250 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)

Metric - US

Instructions

• Measure all your ingredients before beginning and have them ready. This is very important.
• In a deep 3 quart saucepan, pour the water, and then the sugar. Don’t stir it.
• Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. If there’s sugar stuck on the sides of the pan, carefully brush it with a heat-resistant silicone brush dipped in a little water. Feel free to swirl the pan to give the mixture a stir, but when you set it back on the burner, brush the edges of the pan with water to dissolve the sugar crystals from the walls of the pot.
• Once the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture starts to bubble, you can increase the heat on the stove to medium–high, or you can leave it on medium. The only difference is that on medium, it will take longer for the mixture to caramelize.
• Continue to boil the caramel until it turns amber in colour. As soon as the caramel has reached the desired colour, slide the pan off the heat, and turn the burner off.
• Slowly and carefully drop in the cubed butter (it will bubble and erupt so be careful!). Pour in the cream, slowly and carefully.
• When the bubbling has calmed down, begin to gently whisk the caramel until it is smooth and homogeneous.
• Poor the salted caramel in a large jar and cover loosely. When the caramel has cooled to room temperature, you can tighten the lid and store it in the refrigerator. It will thicken as it cools.

Notes

• I highly recommend watching the colour change closely to determine if your caramel has cooked enough, but if you want to check the temperature, aim for somewhere between 350°F and 360°F with a candy thermometer before adding the butter and cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 98kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 28mg | Potassium: 6mg | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 198IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg

The post How to make salted caramel sauce appeared first on The Bake School.

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Passion Fruit Curd

An easy recipe for homemade passion fruit lemon curd made from scratch

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Calories 71kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

• 125 mL passion fruit purée
• 63 mL fresh lemon juice
• 200 grams granulated sugar divided
• 8 large egg yolk(s)
• 150 grams unsalted butter cubed

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, combine the passion fruit purée, the lemon juice, and half the sugar.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar until the mixture has lightened in colour. Set aside by the stove.
• Have the cubes of butter ready by the stove (away from heat) and also, place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl nearby. Have a couple heatproof spatulas at the ready.
• Heat the juice mixture on medium–high until it comes to a boil almost. Pour the juice over the lightened yolks and whisk like mad to temper the eggs. When the egg-juice mixture is well mixed, transfer it back to a saucepan.
• Heat the curd on medium–high until it comes to a boil, whisking constantly. When the mixture comes to a boil, set a time for 1.5 minutes and boil the mixture while whisking non-stop. Move the saucepan around over the burner to avoid scorching if your burner/pan have hot spots. At this point, the curd should be thick. Take the pan off the heat, and begin whisking in the butter, a little at a time. When the butter has disappeared and the curd is well mixed, pour it into the strainer set over a bowl. Use a spatula to get every last drop of curd out of the pan. Press the mixture through the sieve.
• Cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the entire surface of the curd, then close the bowl with another piece of plastic wrap pulled across the top. Chill overnight.

Notes

Please note calories calculated based on a 1 tablespoon serving

Nutrition

Calories: 71kcal

The post Passionfruit curd appeared first on The Bake School.

Making grapefruit curd is just like making classic lemon curd and tropical passion fruit curd. It's easy!

I like to heat the fruit juice with part of the sugar, while the eggs are whisked with the rest of the sugar before tempering the eggs with the hot liquid. I find I have more control this way.

For a smoother grapefruit curd, I always recommend to take the time to strain it as soon as you take it off the heat. This way, you will remove any cooked eggs or fruit pulp so that your curd is smooth and creamy. You can use this grapefruit curd to fill coconut cookies or smear it on toast for breakfast!

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Grapefruit curd

This recipe yields a creamy grapefruit curd that works great sandwiched between cookies or spread on toast.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 1 cup

Calories 24kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Ingredients

• 84 mL freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 4 large egg yolk(s)
• 76 grams unsalted butter cut into pieces

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a small-to-medium saucepan, combine the grapefruit juice with half the granulated sugar. Set on a burner on medium–high heat.
• Meanwhile in a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar. Whisk vigorously until the mixture turns a very pale, light yellow. Set aside.
• Place another bowl with a strainer over top next to the stove, and have the chopped butter ready on a plate close by as well. Have a heatproof spatula ready too. Do all this before going any further.
• When the grapefruit juice just comes to a boil, take the pot off the burner and pour it over the sugary egg mixture. Whisk to temper the eggs and combine all the ingredients together. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return the pot back onto the burner. Whisk the mixture over medium–high heat until it comes to a boil. Then boil the mixture for 1 minute, whisking like mad.
• After the minute has elapsed, immediately take the pot off the burner and turn it off. Drop the butter into the saucepan, a few pieces at a time, whisking constantly and when all the butter has disappeared into the curd, transfer it all to the strainer set over a bowl. Collect the curd in the bowl, then cover with cling film pressed directly on the surface to protect it from the air. Chill overnight.

Notes

• Calories calculated per teaspoon of curd

Nutrition

Calories: 24kcal

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