Raspberry Curd

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This homemade raspberry curd is creamy, sweet-tart, and packed with real berry flavor and a smooth, buttery texture. Use it on raspberry white chocolate chip scones, pancakes, biscuits, or crepes, or as a filling for cupcakes or layer cakes.

This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Bushel and Berry®.

MOVE OVER LEMON– THERE’S A NEW CURD IN TOWN

While lemon curd may be the classic, did you know you can make this sweet-tart, buttery spread in so many flavors? I’ve already shared my recipes for lemon, peach, and cranberry curds, and now it’s time for raspberry to get its time to shine, because when it comes to fruit, if the question is “does it curd?” the answer is almost always “yes.“

One of my favorite things about curds is that they can be used as a spread or condiment but their sturdiness means they can also serve as a filling for a cupcake or a cake. In fact, I use my cranberry curd to make a cranberry curd tart— a little something different from the usual winter dessert. I also highly recommend making these like these lemon curd cupcakes and replacing the lemon curd with this raspberry curd. I personally haven’t tried it, but if you do… Invite me over for a taste test, please?

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INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED

This raspberry curd is smooth, creamy, and bursting with real berry flavor thanks to whole raspberries (and yes, frozen works perfectly!). With just six simple ingredients, you’ll have a vibrant, fruity curd that tastes incredible on almost anything. Honestly, it’s so good you might skip the extras and eat it straight from the spoon (and I wouldn’t blame you… Because I’ve been there).

Here’s what you’ll need:

FRESH OR FROZEN RASPBERRIES: you’ll need 12 ounces of fresh raspberries. While fresh are preferred, frozen will work just as well. You will just need to thaw them. Thanks to Bushel and Berry®, I always have fresh raspberries available to me because I have my own plant. This Raspberry Shortcake® plant stays small enough to grow in a patio container and doesn’t have any pesky thorns.

EGG YOLKS: egg yolks bring all the structure to the curd. They’ll cook slowly so that they become firm, but not as firm as they do when you cook or scramble them. Low, slow heat means a sturdy and smooth texture. Consider using the egg whites to make angel food cake, white cake, Swiss meringue buttercream, (and there’s a chocolate version!), pignoli cookies, lemon meringue pie, or candied almonds.

GRANULATED SUGAR: only a half of a cup, just to add some additional sweetness to the curd. The raspberries bring their own sweetness, but they also come with some tartness, so the sugar helps to offset all of that.

LEMON: although we aren’t making lemon curd, lemon juice still helps other fruits to curd. Fresh lemon juice helps break down the raspberries. The curd won’t taste like lemon at all.

SALT: just a touch to offset the sweet and tart. Without it, the flavor will be a little flat.

UNSALTED BUTTER: this is another piece to the structure puzzle. You’ll want to make sure the butter is fully at room temperature and cut into slices. The warmth of the cooked curd will melt the butter completely, but it won’t incorporate if it’s already melted, and it will take too long to incorporate if it’s cold. Let it sit out for about 30-60 minutes and it should be good to go.

HOW TO MAKE RASPBERRY CURD

Make the raspberry purée: start by blending the raspberries blend until they are smooth (aside from the seeds).

Strain the mixture: strain the raspberry purée through a mesh sieve to remove the seeds (which you can discard).

Prepare a double boiler: you can use an actual double boiler if you want, but I usually just use a large glass bowl and a heavy bottom saucepan for a makeshift version. Bring the water to a boil.

Cook the mixture: combine the raspberry purée, egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in the top pot of the double boiler, then use a silicone whisk to continuously whisk the mixture as it cooks. Continue whisking the mixture until it becomes thick and foamy, approximately 10-15 minutes. If you want to check the temperature of the curd with an instant read thermometer to be safe, it should reach 160ºF (71ºC). This is my very favorite instant-read digital thermometer, and this is my favorite budget-friendly digital thermometer. 

Add the butter to the warm mixture: remove the top bowl from the heat and whisk in the room temperature butter pieces 2 at a time, adding the next pieces after previous pieces have mostly melted.

Cover with plastic wrap + chill: when all of the butter has melted, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of raspberry curd, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the surface of the curd. Allow the curd to cool in the refrigerator (it will thicken as it cools) for about 2 hours. It is now ready to use!

HOW TO USE RASPBERRY CURD

CAKE: use your curd as a filling for any cake! I love this lemon curd cake, which could easily be turned into a raspberry curd cake. Also try it in this berry cake, or for a simple filling in my white cake or chocolate cake. Don’t forget it can be a simple topping for angel food cake.

CUPCAKES: these lemon curd filled cupcakes would be a perfect place for this raspberry curd. Replace all of the lemon curd with raspberry curd, or keep some and swap out others for a raspberry lemonade feel.

PIE: turn this cranberry curd tart into a raspberry curd one! You could also make raspberry meringue pie using my lemon meringue pie recipe.

ICE CREAM: the options are endless here! Try this curd as a topping on any of my fruit ice creams like peach ice cream, blackberry ice cream, passion fruit ice cream, or banana ice cream.

CHEESECAKE: curd makes a great topping for classic cheesecake, even mini no bake cheesecake bites. Consider making these chocolate raspberry goat cheese cheesecakes for 2! Ever try pistachio and raspberry together? Make this pistachio cheesecake and find out. Or this peach cheesecake!

THIS CURD GOES PERFECTLY WITH RASPBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES

These scones were absolutely made for this curd. No, really… They actually were!

MORE RASPBERRY RECIPES