Rhubarb Curd with The Preservation Society

Kate has a glut of rhubarb in her veg patch and is looking for new recipe ideas. Angharad at The Preservation Society shows Kate how to make her delicious rhubarb curd.

The full recipe follows below.

 

The joy of preserving is using the glut of the season to make delicious jams and chutneys, tucking them away to bring deliciousness into the cold winter months.

Ingredients – It’s lovely to use local seasonal ingredients and “Swap Cropping” with friends can be a great way to get lovely tasty fruit. Angharad often freezes her swap cropped fruit until she has enough to make a big batch – frozen fruit is great to use as it takes the pressure off, it can be cooked when you’re ready and it’s often frozen at its optimum ripeness.
Embrace ugly tasty fruit & vegetables. Chutneys are a great way of using up fruit & vegetables, but always be patient, allow them to sit for a month or so and you’ll benefit from a richer rounder flavour.

Jar Preparation – The key to making great jam and preserves is jars that are thoroughly sterile. Wash jars in warm soapy water, rinse them in hot water and add them to a large tray. Place in an oven over 120 C, ensuring jars are sterilised and hot when the molten jam is poured into them.

Lid Preparation – Lids need to be sterilised too. Heat water in a large pan, once boiling, add the lids and allow them to bowl for 5 minutes. Pour into a colander and leave in a safe place until ready to use them.

• 600g Rhubarb , washed, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 4 large eggs
• 200g butter, diced
• 4 tsp cornflour
• 175g caster sugar
• splash of grenadine (optional)

1. Put the rhubarb in a blender or food processor and whizz until as fine as it will go. Set a sieve over a bowl, and tip in the rhubarb, pushing pulp with a wooden spoon to get through as much juice as you can.
2. Add the butter, cornflour, sugar and 250ml rhubarb juice (save the rest) to a pan and set over a very low heat. Whisk until all the butter has melted, then, add the whisked eggs. Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the curd has thickened to a consistency a little thicker than custard. Don’t be tempted to increase the heat to speed up the process, as the eggs will curdle; make sure you stir right around the edge, too, as this is where it might catch first.
3. Sieve the curd into a clean bowl to get rid of any eggy bits that may have curdled. Stir in 100ml more of the reserved juice and a small splash of grenadine if you would like your curd a bit pinker, before chilling. Once cold, taste – add a splash more rhubarb juice if it needs sharpening, then spoon into jars. 
4. The curd will keep, stored in the fridge, for up to a week. Eat on scones, crumpets or hot buttered toast, or dollop into sweet pastry cases to make mini curd tarts.