Turn fresh cranberries into tart and sweet cranberry curd with just a few simple ingredients. Perfect for spreading on seasonal goodies and breads or using as a topping or filling for cakes, cupcakes, pies, cheesecakes, and more!
¼cup(57g) unsalted buttersoftened to room temperature and cut into 4 slices
⅛teaspoonsalt
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, and sugar. Bring to a boil then simmer while stirring occasionally until cranberries are macerated, sugar has fully dissolved, and the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat.
Pour the cranberry mixture into a blender (my preference) or a food processor. Don't wash the saucepan yet. Purée mixture until there are no large cranberry pieces remaining. Set aside.
Add the eggs and egg yolks to a medium size bowl then whisk to combine. Add about 2 Tablespoons of the cranberry mixture (does not have to be measured or perfect) to the egg mixture then whisk again to temper3 the eggs. Add the tempered eggs and the cranberry mixture that's still in the blender back into the saucepan.
Cook the cranberry mixture + eggs over medium-low heat while stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 160ºF (71ºC), about 3-5 minutes. I use my digital instant-read thermometer to check the temperature quickly. Add the butter and salt then stir until all of the butter is melted. Allow the cranberry curd to cool in the saucepan about 45 to 60 minutes.
When your cranberry curd has cooled significantly, check to be sure it is below 125ºF (52ºF). This will insure a film has formed and moving forward, your curd will stay nice and smooth.
When your curd is at the appropriate temperature, press it through a fine mesh sieve into a medium size bowl or a large measuring cup with a spout. If it has cooled too much, it may be harder to work with. Just reheat it over medium heat until it has thinned out a bit (no more than 1-2 minutes-- you don't need to cook it any more, just looking to loosen the butter). Work in 3 to 4 batches and remove the skin/seeds/chunks that don't pass through the sieve before adding another batch of curd. You may need to rinse it.
Allow curd to cool completely before using. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 week or in the freezer up to 1 year. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Notes
Cranberries: you can also use frozen. No need to thaw.
Fresh orange juice: you may not get a full ½ cup of fresh orange juice from one orange, depending on the size. That's ok! Just add water to the ½ cup mark. You could even use another citrus juice if you wanted to.
Tempering the eggs: this just means you're adding a portion of your hot liquid (in this case, the cooked cranberries) to eggs to heat them up slowly so they don't cook when you add them to the whole batch of hot liquid.
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.