Homemade Orange Curd – made with just 6 ingredients and such a delicious addition to your favorite recipes!
Have you ever noticed how things always seem to take WAY longer than you think they should?? I’ve always known this to be true when Jorden starts a new project (a couple hours means more like a couple days….) but lately I’ve been noticing how true it is for me, too! Frustrating for someone who already feels like they don’t have enough time in the day….
Case in point: last night. Jorden called on his way home from work saying he had free NBA tickets and asking what I thought about him taking Ellia and Greta. Hmmmm….let me think – YES!!!!!! Immediately I started planning my night – thinking about just how much I could get done after Nora went to bed at 7:00. And, to be fair, I started out strong! I had a list of recipes I wanted to make to get ready for next week (spring break) and I wanted to work ahead on my post for the next few days. It’s not often that I have the luxury of a quiet house!
Well, I got about halfway through my first recipe when I realized it was taking me a whole lot longer than I had imagined. I kept adding a little of this and a little of that, and of course I had to taste it after each new addition….and approximately 27 taste tests later, it was finally where I wanted it to be. Phew! Unfortunately, it had taken half my night to get there….not exactly my plan….but still, I was determined to push on. Now, I’d love to tell you that recipe #2 was quick and breezy, but it turned out to be just as time consuming (or maybe more so) than the first!
By the time Jorden called to say they were on their way home, I had done nothing more than make two lousy recipes. Two! Okay, that’s not entirely true…..but I still had a LONG list of things I had hoped/planned/intended to accomplish. Oh well. The good news is that all my time spent in the kitchen pays off in the end….with delicious recipes like this Homemade Orange Curd! It’s the perfect spread, topping, filling, or addition to all your favorite breakfasts and desserts. And I can guarantee it won’t take YOU way longer than you think it should.
Ingredients
- 2 navel oranges
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 6 egg yolks beaten
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Zest oranges, then cut them in half and squeeze to juice them.
- Combine orange zest and juice (about 1/2 cup) in a medium saucepan.
- Add remaining ingredients and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- After about 5 minutes the mixture should start to boil gently.
- Continue boiling, stirring constantly 3-4 minutes more.
- Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Oh my gosh this looks amazing! I love lemon curd and can imagine how delicious orange curd must be. I didn’t know it was easy to make at home! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
You’re welcome, Bianca! I love lemon curd, too….but I really wanted to make strawberry-orange cupcakes so I knew I needed to attempt orange! Hope you try it and enjoy it!!
I made this and it’s great. I just harvested 67 oranges from my tree and would much rather make curd for the year and not just juice. Will this can as is or do I need to make adjustments? I’m thinking a water bath for 30 minutes.
Or I forgot to ask if it will freeze?
Hi Lynn, I’m not sure this will freeze well because of the eggs. Hmmm. I will have to give it a try. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
I take it back, Lynn! I just looked it up and, according to multiple sources, curd will freeze beautifully!
Yes ma’am!! I freeze all of my curds. Use the straight sided pint jars and leave about 3/4″ headroom.
They separate a tiny bit but none of the flavor is lost!! I do this when I have a bag of citrus that I forgot about and can’t use before it’s go bad.
I freeze lemon curd and orange curd in IceCube trays . then its just the right size portion for a slice if hot buttered toast.
Once frozen I pio then out if tray and store in freeze in freezer bags ..easy peasy
Hi Lynn,
I’m sorry, but I’m really not sure about canning orange curd. I found this link which might be potentially helpful: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/lemon_curd.html
I can lemon curd on a consistent basis, but I don’t keep it for longer than 3 months. Just follow up with a water bath for 20 minutes. (From the time it is boiling)
Hello. You made this AS IS with NO cornstarch & all of that sugar and it thickened and tasted like oranges?
Stop the madness! Orange curd?! You know I love my lemon curd so what do you think I’ll be whipping up this weekend? I know the family will love it! Thanks for the inspiration…always Cathy! AMAZING!
Thanks Jess!! I love my lemon curd too! This is a little less sweet than the TJ’s lemon curd….(on purpose)….and I absolutely love it!! Hope you enjoy, my friend!
Why are you adding orange extract? That seems unnecessary. I use oranges just picked off my tree to make marmalade and my lemons to make lemon curd and I would never think of compromising either of them them by adding extracts. Also – that amount of sugar seems super high to me! when I make lemon curd – I use equal parts of sugar and lemon juice – any more sugar than that is just too sweet. Nice pics though!
I would love your modified recipe without the added ingredients you mention Jennifer.
Brilliant! I love lemon curd but have never tried orange!
Oh those precious minutes of alone time! I hear ya girlfriend! They fly by way way to fast! These looks amazing!
This looks mouthwatering, and I feel your pain, never enough time in the day! Can’t wait to make this.
This looks lovely. Pinning to try!
I’d love to make this, but I’m sure I’d eat the whole jar with a spoon!! Looks amazing!!
Now this recipe sounds like a true keeper!! Pinning!! Happy Easter to you and yours…. 🙂
“hugs” Crystelle
Crystelle Boutique
This looks amazing! We love lemon curd. I’m pretty sure we would love orange too! 🙂 Thanks for sharing. Pinning!
This looks amazing and sounds so refreshing! Thanks for sharing it with us! Pinned. 🙂
I just made this (with some modifications) and it is so delicious. I didn’t realize before I started, but I only had half a cup of white sugar on hand. I subbed in a half cup of dark brown sugar and called it a day. Because of the intensity of the brown sugar, I added a good glug of lemon juice to the fresh orange juice. One of my navel oranges produced over a cup of juice, so I only juiced that one. I needed a little bit of cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken the mixture, but once I added that, it came together beautifully. I strained it through a coarse strainer and it is in the fridge now. I ate what was left in the pan with the orange olive oil cake I just made, and it was divine. Thank you for sharing!
I would love your modified recipe!
This was eat-straight-from-the-jar delicious! And a whole lot easier to make than I expected.
Thanks so much for the feedback, Karen!
How long will curd keep? Is it ok to double the recipe?
Will this make enough to fill 2 dozen cupcakes?
Just made this for between the layers of an almond cake with Grand Marnier frosting. It was a snap to do and absolutely yummy. Turned out just like the picture, which has to be a first. Thanks for the recipe. You rock!
Great to hear, David!
I would love your almond cake recipe and the Grand Marnier frosting recipe David.
I just made this and found it to be a bit too sweet for my taste but everyones taste buds are different. Next time I think I will cut back on the sugar and probably the butter a little bit also. The flavor is very good though. Thank you for all your hard work and giving me a base to work with.
This recipe was very easy to make and came out with a delicious flavor. Just really, really way too sweet for me. I was a bit concerned from the beginning about how sweet it was going to be with 1 1/2 cups of sugar so I decreased it to one cup.
The curd was SO SWEET that I added the juice of one lemon, and then another, and it is really still extremely sweet. It also would not thicken no matter how long I cooked it so with the juice of the second lemon I added in 1 1/2 tsp of cornstarch.
Next time I will try making it with only 1/2 cup sugar to start with because I like my citrus to have a hint of tartness to it.
Super easy to make and very delicious. I used it for a cupcake filling for chocolate cupcakes and it was amazing 🙂
So happy to hear it, Cassie!