Mixed Berry Curd 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.

MIXED-BERRY TIRAMISù WITH LIME CURD

Steps:

• For berries:
• Combine blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, powdered sugar, and 1/2 cup water in large saucepan. Bring to simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until berries are soft but still intact, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Transfer mixture to large bowl; stir in lime juice. Cool to room temperature. Stir strawberries into berry mixture. Chill until cold, about 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.
• For syrup and ladyfinger layer:
• Combine 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar, and lime peel strips in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour syrup into bowl. Cool to room temperature; discard lime peel.
• Using pastry brush, brush ladyfingers on both sides with syrup. Arrange in single layer in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish, cutting to fit and covering bottom of dish completely. Pour chilled berry mixture over.
• For mascarpone topping:
• Combine mascarpone and cream in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth and slightly thickened (do not overbeat or mixture may curdle). Add Lime Curd; beat just until blended. Drop mascarpone topping by large spoonfuls over berry mixture. Spread evenly, covering berries completely. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.
• Spoon tiramisù into bowls and serve.
• Available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Italian markets.
• ** An Italian cream cheese; sold at many supermarkets and at Italian markets.

MIXED BERRY TARTLETS

Steps:

• Let pie crusts stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly coat twelve 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with cooking spray. For pastry shells, unroll pie crusts. Use a 3-1/2-to 4-inch round cutter to cut 6 rounds from each crust. Press rounds into prepared muffin cups, pleating to fit.
• For tartlet filling, in a medium bowl combine the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cornstarch; stir in berries and lemon juice. Spoon berry mixture into pastry shells. Bake for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Carefully remove tartlets from muffin cups; cool completely on wire rack.
• In a medium mixing bowl combine whipping cream, lemon curd, 1 teaspoon sugar, and vanilla; beat with wire whisk or with electric mixer on medium speed until cream mixture mounds and is fluffy. Spoon on tarts. Garnish each tart with a mint sprig. Makes 12 servings.