Questions for bakers

[ifonlyuntil9]

So today i attempted to make blackberry curd for the second and third time and of course ended up disappointed with it again. The first attempt, with a recipe taken off the internet had awesome flavor and color but the curd never thickened. The second attempt with a different recipe had me put the eggs into the hot blackberry juice, thus making a

Comments

[lyahdan]

I haven't made curd, but most custardy egg things are sensitive to the temperature you cook it to and the time at that temperature. I could also see the difference in acidity between lemon and blackberry being a possible component to look at.

Have you tried making it with the same recipe you use for lemon curd, with the fruit juice as the only substitution? Without knowing the other differences in those two recipes, it's hard to tell what might be making the difference.

[temperance14]

Another possibility is tempering the eggs. One, have the eggs at room temperature. When the recipe calls for the eggs to be added, crack them into a separate bowl, and add a small amount of the hot stuff cooking on the stove to the eggs in the separate bowl. Beat them all together slightly, and that will gently raise the temperature of the eggs, so that they do not cook suddenly.

Or so I'm told....yeah, lemon curd egg drop soup, I've done that.

[serendipity17]

Tempering works well. Add half the sugar to the eggs and half the sugar to the juice. Whisk hot juice *by tablespoons* into the egg mixture and get it pretty hot before adding egg-juice into egg.

My recipe has enough fat to make it reasonably heat-resistant:

Blackberry Curd

12 oz blackberries, pureed (blender, medium speed) and sieved (1 cup juice, discard seeds)
1 lemon (juiced, sieve juice)
1 c white sugar
2-3 egg yolks
2 eggs
1/8-1/4 c butter to taste

In a double boiler, whisk together blackberry juice, lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, and eggs. Whisk constantly over softly boiling water until the whisk leaves traces when lifted (pudding/custard style). Remove from heat, whisk in butter, then sieve sauce into bowl for cooling. Cool over ice bath or in refrigerator, stirring occasionally. Plastic wrap directly over the top to avoid skin formation/condensation drips.

I use 4 qt bowl over 3 qt pot of water.