Rhubarb Curd-Secret Recipe Club

This month my Secret Recipe Club assignment was Culinary Adventures with Camilla which is the blog written by our group B hostess, Camilla Mann.  What a delightful blog this is.  I especially enjoyed the posts where her boys are cooking.

Camilla started her blog in 2009  so there were many, many recipes to choose from.  There are numerous recipes that I want to try and some I did.  I made the Cabbage Steaks and enjoyed them very much.  Some of the many recipes I have on my list to make are:  Homemade Saltine Crackers, Honey Soy Drumettes, Snickerdoodle Buttermilk Muffins, and Smoldering Pants Brussels Sprouts.  You need to go read the post about that last one.

The recipe I picked to share today is Rhubarb Curd.  There are several reasons that I chose this recipe, number one being that I love rhubarb and can hardly wait until it is ready each spring.  I also love to find and share unique recipes that I believe deserve a wider audience.

Camilla used fresh rhubarb.  Unfortunately, it’s a bit too early where I live to get fresh so I used some of my frozen rhubarb.  This worked out OK, although I am sure fresh would be a bit better.  The only change I would make if I use frozen rhubarb next time will be to reduce the amount of water to 1/4 cup as my curd was not quite as stiff asI think it should be.  Camilla said that her curd did not keep its pink color.  Mine came out a very pale pink so I think that it depends on the variety of rhubarb that you use.  Unfortunately, unless you grow your own, you have no control over the variety of rhubarb that is available for purchase.  If you wanted it more pink, I suppose that you could add some red food color.

A couple of tips that may help in making this recipe:  grease your measuring cup when measuring the honey and separate the eggs while they are cold.  I use an egg separator as I can let the egg sit until all of the white has dripped off.

The curd was delicious.  I added a couple of tablespoons of sugar to reduce the tartness to my taste.  I see so many uses for this.  It can be used as a spread for bread, a topping for cake, ice cream or pudding, and it is good just spooned out of the jar.  Right now I am enjoying it over cream cheese spread on English muffins.  Since I got 3 cups curd when I made this, I am going to put some in the freezer and see how it freezes.  Do make this recipe, you won’t be sorry.

Thanks, Camilla, for a great addition to my recipe collection.  This is going on my list of ideas for gifts to make for Christmas.

Rhubarb Curd
from Camilla’s Culinary Adventures
6 c. rhubarb, fresh or frozen.
1/2 c. water (reduce to 1/4 c. if using frozen rhubarb)
zest from 1 lemon
1/3 c. honey
1/2 c. powdered sugar (a bit more if desired to you taste)
1/2 c. butter
8 egg yolks
juice from the lemon

In a medium saucepan, combine rhubarb, water, lemon zest and honey.  Cook gently over medium heat until rhubarb has softened, stirring often.  Meanwhile, in another saucepan, combine powdered sugar, butter and lemon.  Heat until the butter is melted and bring to a boil.  In a small bowl, beat the eggs very well.  Very slowly add 1/3 of the butter/sugar/juice mixture to the eggs while beating rapidly.  Now slowly add the egg mixture into the butter/sugar/juice mixture, beating rapidly.  Continue beating over medium heat (do not let it boil) until mixture thickens.  Add the rhubarb mixture to the yolk mixture and cook until thickened.  Spoon into clean container and store in the refrigerator.  I got about 3 cups curd.

Check out the links below to see what other group B bloggers made this month.  If you would like to join in the fun, you can find details here.

An InLinkz Link-up