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Fruit curds are so simple and quick to make. Quintessential and quite the doyenne of the curd clan, lemon curd is unquestionably the all time favourite of these soft, creamy concoctions but I also love this smooth velvety apple curd. It's a marvelous way to use up windfall apples and so during the autumn I like to prepare a good quantity of apple puree and freeze it in 10 ounce portions. I can then easily knock up a batch when the apple season has long gone. --Pam Corbin
Makes 4 8 ounce jars
Ingredients
1 pound Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons (you need 7 tablespoons strained juice)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons beaten eggs (4 or 5 large eggs)
Put the chopped apples into a pan with 7 tablespoons of water and the lemon zest. Cook gently until soft and fluffy, then either beat to a purée with a wooden spoon or run through a food mill.
Put the lemon juice, butter, sugar, and apple purée into a double boiler or heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. As soon as the butter has melted and the mixture is hot and glossy, pour in the eggs through a sieve, then whisk with a balloon whisk. If the fruit purée is too hot when the beaten egg is added, the egg will curdle. One way to guard against this is to check the temperature of the purée with a candy thermometer – it should be no higher than 130° to 140°F when the egg is added. If your curd does curdle, take the pan off the heat and whisk vigorously until smooth.
Stir the mixture over low heat, scraping down the sides of the bowl every few minutes, until thick and creamy. This will take 9 to 10 minutes; the temperature should reach 180° to 183°F on a candy thermometer. Immediately pour into warm, sterilized jars and seal. Use within 1 month. Once opened, keep in the fridge.
Variations
To make gooseberry curd, replace the apples with gooseberries. If you’d like a traditional, pure lemon curd, leave out the apples, increase the lemon juice to 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (4 to 5 lemons) and add the grated zest of 2 or 3 more lemons.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delicious book,
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This review is from: The River Cottage Preserves Handbook (Hardcover)
This is a great book for some basic recipes. I am a novice "canner" and this is not a begginer book. The layout is nice and I will be trying several of the recipes. If you want to be inspired to explore and think outside of simple cherry, raspberry, and strawberry jam, this is an excellent book.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Preserves Handbooks 1 and 2 - warning,
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This review is from: The River Cottage Preserves Handbook (Hardcover)
The book itself is fine with some interesting recipies -- HOWEVER -- if you are also considering buying the second book on preserves from River Cottage (ie River Cottage Handbook No 2 - Preserves), please be aware that the content is pretty much identical (ie same recipies, photos and layout). Wish I had known this before I bought both books -- could have saved some money.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a mixed review,
This review is from: The River Cottage Preserves Handbook (Hardcover)
A friend of mine gave me this book as a gift, and just from flipping through, the recipes look intriguing and make me want to get into the kitchen. I've only made one of the recipes from this book (the chili pepper jelly) and I'm kind of disappointed. On the one hand, the jelly tastes fantastic and was easy to make. However, I think there might be an error in the recipe as it only calls for 2 tsp of pectin. All of the other jelly recipes I've looked at call for a minimum of 2 oz of pectin when using the equivalent amount of sugar. It would certainly explain why my jelly didn't set properly, despite the fact that I followed the instructions precisely and checked with a thermometer. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt that this is just an unfortunate typo and will try out some of the other intriguing recipes. Now I also have to find a use for 4 half-pints of runny jalapeno jelly!
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