When oranges are in season, you must make homemade orange curd. This simple, easy no-fail recipe for curd filling is the best you will ever taste. Sweet, tangy with a luxurious texture. An orange curd that takes no more than 20 minutes to prepare and can be used as a filling for cakes, pies, and desserts is a must-have recipe.
Table of Content
Orange curd with fresh oranges is a must-have. And, I mean must-have. The sweet oranges in a custard-like filling are out of this world. And, I love to add some lemon in there to give it a little zing. By now you must have tried my lemon curd or at least seen my lemon curd video. It's simple, easy and really luxurious. It's a no-fail method because I cook it low and slow. As a result, you will never have a curdled curd whether you make lemon or orange curd.
Also, did you know the options to make fruit curd using this exact same method are endless? I love using citrus fruits because I really enjoy the tart flavors. And, if you love fruit curd you must substitute the orange juice in this recipe with any other fruit juice, such as tangerine, passion fruit, limes, or grapefruits. I've even made mango and pineapple. Pineapple curd is absolute heaven.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Oranges - Use the measure of orange juice not the number of oranges when making this recipe. So if a recipe says ½ cup juice (3 to 4 oranges) usually the number is a guide - the actual measurement you want to use is ½ cup or 60 ml. This can make a big difference. Avoid the membranes and seeds when juicing the oranges these can impart a bitter flavor to the curd.
- Lemon - A little tart taste in contrast to the sweet seasonal oranges works a treat. Unless of course, you have sour oranges than lemons won't do justice. Instead, I suggest you add all orange juice.
- Caster Sugar - Caster sugar is usually a fine grain sugar. Use a fine grain sugar that will dissolve easily in the eggs. If you don't find caster sugar just pulse the regular sugar in a food processor and that will help give you a smooth finish. The amount of sugar used here presumes you have beautiful sweet seasonal oranges. If, however, the oranges are not sweet I highly recommend you add a few tablespoon more of sugar. And yet, NO more than ¼ cup or 30 grams though.
- Egg yolks - The color of yolks will determine the end color of your orange curd. So if you use light yolks you will have pale yellow color curd. A bright golden yellow or orange is much preferred. I'm using free-range eggs that have a nice orange color today.
- Artificial colors - I never use any artificial coloring in my lemon curd, but often I use orange curd in my cakes as filling. So sometimes I do add a dab of orange color just so it will be obvious on the cake. Orange color layers look nicer between two vanilla or chocolate layers.
Step by step instructions
- Measure all ingredients before you start. Cut the butter into cubes - keep chilled.
- Place oranges and lemon in the microwave for 10 seconds before you cut and squeeze this will make it easy. Warm the orange juice for about 30 secs.
- Use a double boiler or make your own - To make your own add an inch of water to the saucepan with a heatproof bowl on top. The water should not touch the top bowl.
Pro tip - we use a double-boiler to prevent the eggs from getting scrambled with direct heat. - In the top bowl of your double boiler - Add egg and yolks, sugar, salt, cornstarch, and zest. Whisk until light and fluffy - sugar should almost melt.
- Add orange juice and lemon juice slowly into the egg mixture. Now place the bowl on the double boiler
- Continue to stir on medium heat. The mixture should cook with just the steam from the water in the saucepan below.
Pro tip - if you cook on low it will take forever to thicken. Since we are cooking on a double boiler you can keep the heat medium heat and stir continuously. - After about 8 to 10 minutes - you will notice the foam that was caused by whipping the egg mixture will slowly disappear and the mixture will start to thicken.
- Continue to stir until it coats the back of your wooden spoon or spatula. Remove from heat.
- Gradually add cubes of butter one at a time. Make sure each piece is well incorporated. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.
Pro tip - the cool butter stops the cooking and makes it smooth and velvety. Add it slow but not too slow or the last of the butter won't incorporate in cooled curd. - Once all the butter has been incorporated, strain it through a mesh or a strainer to remove the zest. This will also give you a smooth creamy curd.
- I like to transfer mine to a mason jar.
Storage
- The curd is best stored in a mason or glass jar in the fridge. The presence of eggs in lemon or orange curd makes it a perishable filling. So any item that has homemade lemon or orange curds such as cakes and pie needs to be placed in the fridge.
- Avoid keeping fruit curd or citrus fillings in metal containers as it can react with the metal.
- Egg yolks can react with the metal such as aluminum and cause it to become green in color.
Can I make this a sugar-free orange curd?
Yes, you can. Just replace the ½ cup sugar with either 1 tablespoon stevia or similar.
If you prefer, you can also substitute sugar with ¼ cup honey, or ⅓ cup agave syrup
How do I use orange curd?
This Orange curd can be eaten just out of the jar or as an ingredient in other recipes.
- Spread it on breakfast toast, muffins, scones, trumpets.
- Use it as a filling in cakes, cupcakes or macarons
- Add it to empty shortcrust pastry shells for mini lemon tarts.
- Spread it in a pie pan and top with meringue for an orange meringue pie.
- Combine with cream cheese for a cream cheese lemon tart
- Use it to make my 3 ingredients no-churn orange curd ice cream.
More recipes with orange
Frequently asked questions
To me, fruit curd is like a dessert on its own. I can eat it out of a jar with a spoon. It tastes delicious on its own! BUT, you can use it for many things from cake fillings, pie fillings, on breakfast toast, donuts, bagels. I love it as a filling such as in my lemon macaron with lemon buttercream too. Have you tried an orange cake with orange curd yet? Always a hit with people who love the orange flavor. I eat orange curd plain with crackers too!
One must make sure they have all the necessary information to make it right.
A fruit filling is usually the easiest to make. It mostly involves a fruit, some sweetener, and starch, which come beautifully together into a thick gorgeous fruit filling. It looks and tastes beautiful when done right. As I shared with you in my Blueberry (Cake) Filling, cherry cake filling, or simple Strawberry (cake) Filling.
Fruit curd, on the other hand, requires a bit more tact because it involves a citrus fruit like lemon, lime, or orange, a few egg yolks, and emulsification with butter. Unlike a filling, you can't just put it all in a pan and cook it. You need to exercise a bit more caution. Again it's not difficult; it only requires caution.
If sealed and properly stored orange curd and be kept in the fridge for three months, however, once you have opened the jar do not keep the open jar for more than ten days to a maximum of 2 weeks. The curd on the surface will get slightly darker when exposed to air, but it is not a health concern.
Yes, lemon curd freezes well and can be kept for up to 1 year if stored properly. For best results, thaw in the refrigerator overnight or 24 hours before use.
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Printable Recipe
No-Fail Orange Curd Recipe
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Video
Conversions Used
1 lb = 453 grams, 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 stick = 113g, 1 tbsp= 15 ml, 1 tsp= 5 ml,
Ingredients
- 3 Egg yolks ((large))
- 1 Whole egg ((large))
- 2 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ½ tablespoon Orange zest
- ½ tablespoon Lemon zest
- 1 cup (240 ml) Orange juice
- 4 tablespoon Lemon juice
- ½ cup (100 g) Sugar (fine grain)
- 2 oz (60 g) Unsalted butter ( chilled, cubed)
- ¼ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients before you start. Cut the butter into cubes - keep chilled.
- Place oranges and lemon in the microwave for 10 seconds before you cut and squeeze this will make it easy. Warm the orange juice for about 30 secs.
- Use a double boiler or make your own - To make your own add an inch of water to the saucepan with a heatproof bowl on top. The water should not touch the top bowl.Pro tip - we use a double-boiler to prevent the eggs from getting scrambled with direct heat.
- In the top bowl of your double boiler - Add egg and yolks, sugar, salt, cornstarch, and zest. Whisk until light and fluffy - sugar should almost melt.
- Add orange juice and lemon juice slowly into the egg mixture. Now place the bowl on the double boiler
- Continue to stir on medium heat. The mixture should cook with just the steam from the water in the saucepan below.Pro tip - if you cook on low it will take forever to thicken. Since we are cooking on a double boiler you can keep the heat medium heat and stir continuously.
- After about 8 to 10 minutes - you will notice the foam that was caused by whipping the egg mixture will slowly disappear and the mixture will start to thicken.
- Continue to stir until it coats the back of your wooden spoon or spatula. Remove from heat.
- Gradually add cubes of butter one at a time. Make sure each piece is well incorporated. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.Pro tip - the cool butter stops the cooking and makes it smooth and velvety. Add it slow but not too slow or the last of the butter won't incorporate in cooled curd.
- I like to transfer mine to a mason jar.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- The curd is best stored in a mason or glass jar in the fridge. The presence of eggs in lemon or orange curd makes it a perishable filling so any item that has homemade lemon or orange curds such as cakes and pie needs to be placed in the fridge.
- Avoid keeping fruit curd or citrus fillings in metal containers as it can react with the metal.
- Egg yolks can react with the metal such as aluminum and cause it to become green in color
Tips for making this curd
- The taste of the orange depends on the oranges and lemons you use. Use good quality sweet oranges, not oranges that are sour otherwise it will have a very sour orange curd.
- Juice the oranges easily - a great way to exact as much juice from oranges is to microwave the fruits for a few seconds (10 seconds).
- When juicing the oranges - try not to take the membranes and seeds. These can impart a bitter flavor to the curd.
- Warm the orange juice - warming the juice helps it incorporate into the egg yolks well.
- Egg yolks / Whole eggs - I find that all egg yolks have a higher risk of curdling but the one whole egg does help stabilize it.
- Whip eggs and sugar until light and fluffy - If you whip the eggs with sugar until the sugar almost dissolves it prevents the egg from curdling.
- Do not let the curd boil - cooking on medium to low will prevent the curd from curdling. If the curd boils, it will give you orange-flavored scrambled eggs. So no matter how boring - cook on medium to low heat for 10 to 15 mins.
- If you find the curd steaming up - take it off the heat for a few seconds this will help stabilize it.
- How to know if the curd is done? You can use a thermometer and check until the curd reaches 170 F., But I find the best test is taste. Once the curd is thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon, taste it. It should not have any taste of eggs or cornstarch. If necessary cook for 30 secs more.
- Add butter slowly - this will help bring the temperature of the curd down slowly without curdling.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Maria B Rugolo
Can I replace the oranges with fresh strawberries to make a strawberry curd?
Veena Azmanov
Yes, you can replace it with strawberry juice.
Kim
I triple this (used the recipe X3 option) and followed exactly. It did not firm up after chilling overnight - it was very runny - I did wait until it was thick and did the wooden sppoon test. Also, I could feel the cornstartch on my toungue. It did have a delish flavor though. I was surprised at such a low amount of butter, I make lemon curd often and I'm wondering if the diff in butter had anything to do with it setting up.
Veena Azmanov
Hey Kim. The fact that you can taste the cornstarch is an indication that it was not cooked long enough. It usually coats the spoon quite thickly. Also, you can add butter but I find that this amount works best without curdling or splitting. But, feel free to add more butter.
Terry
Hi Veena! I'm new to this site and have already found several "gotta make that! " recipes.
BUT...how about a Pro Tip on WHEN to zest our fruit? Would you recommend after microwaving when more of the zest's oils will be released, or before microwaving? Thanks!
Veena Azmanov
You can microwave the fruit but its not necessary before zesting.