The Botanical Kitchen

Recipes, travel and the occasional rant

Blackberry Curd

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Lemon Curd is fantastic but I have often wondered if it would work just as well with other tart fruits like Blackberry.  I found this recipe on the Waitrose website for blackcurrants so I thought I’d give it a go with blackberries.  I had a few blackcurrants in the freezer so threw them in too.

I’ve used this for Blackberry Curd Macaroons and Mini Blackberry Meringue Pies.

You’ll need

  • 300g blackberries
  • 10 medium sized eggs
  • 150g unsalted butter
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 1 lemon
  • 30ml  cassis – I used Gabriel Boudier because it’s so beautiful to look at and I’m fickle like that!

To make it

  1. Sterilise your choice of jars.  I used a 200g coffee jar and basically put it in the oven, wait til the temperature gets to 150C and then turn the oven off.  Take it out of the oven when it’s cooled otherwise you might break the glass.
  2. Put the blackberries in a pan with 100ml water.
  3. Bring this to the boil and then turn it down to a simmer
  4. Cook them for 10 minutes until the berries have softened.
  5.  Take them off the heat and sieve everything into a large bowl, discarding any seeds, to make a smooth sauce.
  6. Add 5 whole eggs and 5 egg yolks into a heavy-based pan and give them a good stir to break up the yolks. You can use the 5 egg whites for macroons or in Mini Meringue Pies.
  7. Stir in the caster sugar and juice from the lemon.
  8. Add the butter and then put this over a low heat.
  9. Add the blackberry/blackcurrant sauce and cook this mixture over a low heat stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. It’s ready when it coats the back of the spoon thickly.  Mine took about 15 minutes.
  10. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cassis (although you might want to leave it out if making the curd for kids).
  11. Pour the gloopy curd into sterilised jars and cover.
  12. Once cooled, store them in the fridge.

That’s it! It’s so easy.  I had some great ideas from people on my Facebook page for different flavours so I will definitely be making this again.

I entered this recipe into Vanessa Kimble’s ‘Let’s Make Christmas‘ competition, judged by the fabulous Dan Lepard, and guess what? I won!  It’s so easy, so tasty and pretty cheap to make that it would make a lovely gift for anyone who loves food.