Homemade Berry Curd Dessert Recipes

BERRY CURD

Steps:

• Place strawberries and raspberries in a blender; cover and process until almost smooth. Press through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl; reserve 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon juice. Discard seeds. , In a small heavy saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in egg yolks and berry puree until blended. Add butter; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is just thick enough to coat a metal spoon and a thermometer reads at least 170°. Do not allow to boil. Remove from heat immediately; stir in vanilla., Transfer to a bowl; cool. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd; refrigerate until cold. Serve or transfer to covered jars and refrigerate up to 2 weeks.

MIXED BERRY CURD

Steps:

• Place the frozen berries in a small sauce pot. Cook for 3 minutes on medium-low heat. Add the sugar, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla extract. Allow to cook until the sugar is dissolved and all of the berries are unthawed, about 8 minutes.
• Transfer the berries and their liquid to a blender or food processor. Process until thoroughly blended, about 3 minutes.
• Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the berry sauce into the strainer to strain out the seeds. Use a spoon to help push the liquid through; discard the seeds. The berry sauce should yield about 3 cups. Set the berry sauce aside.
• Add 2 inches of water to a small sauce pan and set on high to boil and reduce to a simmer. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Place the bowl of egg yolks on top of the pot of simmering water. Make sure the water is not touching the bowl; it's the steam that will cook the eggs.
• Stir the eggs with a wooden spoon constantly, for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until the eggs have thickened and stick to the spoon. It is very important that you stir constantly so that the eggs don't get too warm and begin to scramble. Remove the bowl from the heat immediately.
• If there are bits of cooked egg in your curd, then strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove.
• Stir in the chunks of butter one by one until they are each melted. Add 2 ½ cups of the berry sauce to the curd**. Mix thoroughly. You can reserve the ½ cup of berry sauce to use in yogurt, on top of ice cream or for a curd in the future. Store in an airtight container for 2 weeks or in the freezer for several months.
• Transfer the berry curd to an airtight container. Place plastic wrap just touching the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to chill before serving.
• Serve with sugar cookies, shortbread cookies, scones, muffins, toast, or stir into yogurt or oatmeal. It would even be delicious with some vanilla ice cream. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

LEMON CURD TRIFLE WITH FRESH BERRIES

Steps:

• To make the lemon curd: Bring a pot of water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a metal or glass heat-resistant bowl and whisk until smooth. Set the bowl over the simmering water, without letting the bottom touch, and continue to whisk. Keep working-out that arm and whisk it vigorously for a good 10 minutes, until the curd has doubled in volume and is very thick and yellow. Don't let it boil. Remove the bowl from heat and whisk in the butter, a couple of chunks at a time, until melted. Refrigerate until the custard is cold and firm.
• To build the trifle: put the berries in a mixing bowl and toss them together so they are evenly distributed. Fold the whipped cream into the chilled lemon curd to lighten it up into a mousse. Line a glass trifle bowl with pieces of pound cake to fit. Drizzle or brush the cake with the Limoncello, spoon a layer of the lemon curd over the cake, and then a layer of mixed berries. Repeat the layers until the ingredients are used up, the last layer looks best if it's the berries. Chill before serving. Garnish with fresh mint.