Blood orange curd

Each January we are looking forward to receive the first of the year blood oranges from Sicily Blood orange curd, then we start making blood orange curd/ marmelade etc. 

Ingredients:

250 ml blood orange juice

250 gr sugar

350 butter

250 egg yolk

 

Preparation:

- Put the juice in the pan together with half of the sugar, let the sugar melt

- Add 175 gr of butter to the pan, heat gently

- Put the egg yolks with the other half of the sugar in a bowl and beat lightly

- Add butter/juice mixture little by little, keep beating. Then add mixture to pan.

- Heat pan and continue to stir gently, never let it boil.  Let mixture reach 85 c , not more because you will get scrambled eggs.

- Add the remaining butter gradually to the curd

 

Bloedsinaasappelcurd

Ingredienten:

250 ml bloedsinaasappel sap

250 gr suiker

350 boter

250 eigeel

 

Bereiding:

  • Doe het sap in de pan samen met de helft van de suiker, laat suiker smelten
  • Voeg 175 gr van de boter toe aan de pan, verwarm voorzichtig
  • Doe de eidooiers met de andere helft van de suiker in een kom en klop luchtig.
  • Voeg beetje bij beetje het boter/ juice mengsel toe, blijf kloppen. Voeg mengsel dan toe aan de pan.
  • Verwarm pan en blijf zachtjes roeren, laat het nooit koken. Laat mengsel 85 c worden , niet meer want dan krijg je scrambled eggs.
  • Voeg dan de andere helft van de boter beetje bij beetje toe.

Blood Orange Marmalade

This is a recipe we have adapted from Delia Smith.

Makes about 6 x 350 ml jars

Ingredients
900 g blood oranges
1 lemon
1.8 kg granulated sugar

Method
Begin by measuring 2.25 litres water into a preserving pan, then cut the lemon and oranges in half and squeeze the juice out of them. Add the juice to the water and place the pips and any bits of pith that cling to the squeezer on a square of muslin.

Now cut the orange peel into quarters with a sharp knife, and then cut each quarter into thinnish shreds. As you cut, add the shreds to the water and any pips or spare pith you come across should go on to the muslin. The pith contains a lot of pectin so don't discard any and don't worry about any pith and skin that clings to the shreds – it all gets dissolved in the boiling.

Now tie the pips and pith up loosely in the muslin to form a little bag, and tie this on to the handle of the pan so that the bag is suspended in the water. Then bring the liquid up to simmering point and simmer gently, uncovered, for 2 hours or until the peel is completely soft (test a piece carefully by pressing it between your finger and thumb).

Meanwhile, chill a couple of saucers in the freezer.

Next, remove the bag of pips and leave it to cool on a saucer. Then pour the sugar into the pan and stir it now and then over a low heat, until all the crystals have dissolved (check this carefully, it's important). Now increase the heat to very high and squeeze the bag of pips over the pan to extract all of the sticky, jelly-like substance that contains the pectin. As you squeeze you'll see it ooze out. You can do this by placing the bag between two saucers or using your hands. Then stir or whisk it into the rest.

As soon as the mixture reaches a really fast boil, start timing. Then after 15 minutes spoon a little of the marmalade on to one of the cold saucers from the freezer and let it cool back in the fridge. You can tell – when it has cooled – if you have a 'set' by pushing the mixture with your little finger: if it has a really crinkly skin, it is set. If not, continue to boil the marmalade and give it the same test at about 10-minute intervals until it does set.

After that remove the pan from the heat (if there's a lot of scum, most of it can be dispersed by stirring in half a teaspoon of butter, and the rest can be spooned off). Leave the marmalade to settle for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, the jars should be washed, dried and heated in a moderate oven for 5 minutes. Pour the marmalade, with the aid of a funnel or a ladle, into the jars and seal while still hot.

Label when cold and store in a dry, cool, dark place.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours