Gooseberry & Elderflower Curd

Or lemon & elderflower if you can't get your hands on gooseberries

Hello! Jammy June may be over but I’m not over making jams, curds and compotes. There’s so much amazing produce around at the minute and it feels like a sin not to make the most of it. British gooseberries (not to be confused with American cape gooseberries) are one of the more niche summer berries, they only seem to pop up for a few weeks around July, but when they do appear, you absolutely have to make the most of them!

You can make jam with gooseberries and my basic jam ratio (see this post), it’s delicious but unfortunately, it looks like swamp so my preference is to make them into a curd instead, they’re naturally very sour, making them perfect for curds, even so, I still like to add a touch of citric acid but this is totally optional. If you can’t get your hands on gooseberries, you can make this curd with any other sour berry puree or lemon juice instead.

This curd has a unique but delicious flavour, use it between cake layers, on toast, as a filling for cookie sandwiches, whatever you like! Or come and join me over on this week’s paid post which will be coming tomorrow (apologies for the delay, I’m away for work this week and just need a bit of extra time) to make a gooseberry, elderflower & olive oil Tiana cake this recipe is exclusively available for paid subscribers, so if that sounds like something you’re into, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll receive an exclusive recipe every week, plus access to the full archive of over 100 thoroughly tested cake and dessert recipes. And you'll be helping support me so I can continue creating and sharing recipes! 🩷

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Let’s get on with it…

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Gooseberry & Elderflower Curd

Ingredients - Makes 2 jars

140g gooseberry puree (you’ll need about 250g of gooseberries for 160g of juice)*

40g elderflower cordial

Big pinch of citric acid (optional but I like it)

140g caster sugar

2 large eggs (120g)

3 large egg yolks (60g)

60g soft butter

Green food colouring (optional)

*to make gooseberry puree, blend the gooseberries and then strain the puree through a fine sieve.

Method

1. Boil a medium pan of water, once boiling reduce the heat to just below a simmer.

2. Weigh everything apart from the butter into a large metal bowl, whisking between each addition.

3. Place the bowl over the pan of boiling water and whisk the curd continuously until it thickens and any froth disappears from the top, I tend to do this by eye but if you want to check the temperature, it should be about 85°C (185°F).

4. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to between 30°C to 40°C (85 to 104°F), whisking occasionally to prevent a skin forming. Now is the perfect time to do a bit of washing up!

5. Once cool enough add the butter a bit at a time, if you’re having trouble getting it to incorporate or it’s got a bit too cold you can use a hand blender to help you out.

6. Finally, sieve it and use however you like! This curd will keep for about a week in the fridge.

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