Fresh Blueberry Curd

-plus a dessert recipe!

It's officially Spring here in Kentucky! The air is warming up, gardening supplies are being stocked on the shelves at the big box store again, and blueberries are back in grocery stores. I love the start of Spring. There's just something magical about breaking out of that long rut of winter weather and gray skies into the first warm day that merely hints at what's to come. It really feels like everything is coming back to life. My heart leaps with joy, and I want nothing more than to be outside with my hands in the dirt. Of course, we haven't had our last frost yet so I can't plant anything just yet. 

Actually, I take that back. I was gathering and cleaning my gardening tools this weekend when I happened on a lone bag of tulip bulbs that I'd forgotten to plant. As I looked closer at the bag, I realized that some of the bulbs were sprouting. Amazing, I thought, since they spent all winter in a bag in my cold, dark garage with no food. Anyhoo, I know you are supposed to plant them in the fall, but I went ahead and dumped them all in one of my humongous pots. If they grow, yippee! If they don't, well, I guess I better plant my tulips properly next year. In the fall. Like everyone else.

Coming off that Spring tangent, lets talk about Blueberry Curd. Like lemon curd, but with those sweet/tart little berries that everyone loves-

Blueberries are the epitome of Spring. I'm just sayin'!

Fruit curd is not hard to make. In fact, it's an easy cooking skill to master. Yet somehow impressive. To me, it reminds me of pudding, but made with fruit. The gist of making curd is really just simmering your berries until they are super-soft, straining out the seeds and skins, and then stirring in some eggs and butter. Besides allowing the curd to chill for a couple of hours, that's really all there is to the process. Super. duper. simple.

Curd is perfect for using in baked goods, like danishes, tarts, or filling cupcakes. It also happens to make the perfect accessory to biscuits or toast.

Or perhaps parfait-style?

Ooh la la!

This dessert is effortless. I combined graham cracker crumbs with a little butter to make the bottom layer. I followed with a layer of Blueberry Curd, and finally, topped it all off with a little whipped cream. 

Happy tastebuds, happy life.

I think I mentioned on Thursday or Friday that I was doing really well at physical therapy, and that my therapist was thinking about discharging me. He had asked me to try a couple of things over the weekend that I'd been avoiding since hurting my back. Namely, vacuuming and running. Well, the running never happened. On Friday, I tried vacuuming. And the vacuuming did me in. You could very well insert a curse word there to describe what the vacuum did to me. I could barely climb out of bed Saturday and Sunday, and at my appointment with my therapist yesterday, he was 100% flabbergasted. He could not believe it. Needless to say, there will be more physical therapy. And still, no running. This has been a really frustrating process, I was so close to getting back on the road, I could taste it.  But, alas, no dice. 

So, I'll be resting this week. Working on my patience, for which it seems like I've needed super-sized amounts of this winter. Doing what physical therapy I can, and trying to figure out what exactly about vacuuming is doing this. I can't figure out whether it's the swivel in my hips, or the having a "weight" in my hand that I slide back and forth, or perhaps I hunch over when I vacuum? Your guess is as good as mine (and my therapists) right now.

I'm off, those 2 puppies of mine have to get their shots today. Poor kids :)

Have a great day everyone!

Ingredients (makes 2-3 cups):

1 pint fresh blueberries

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Combine berries, lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a simmer, then lower heat. Simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until blueberries are very soft. 

2. Push blueberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Discard skins and seeds. Place blueberry juice mixture back into saucepan over medium low heat. Stirring constantly, add a little bit of the eggs. Keep adding a little bit at a time until you've mixed in all the egg. Add the butter, stirring until the butter is completely melted. Keeping stirring over medium-low heat until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (5-7 minutes). 

3. Remove from heat, push mixture through fine mesh sieve one more time into a small bowl. Once strained, place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the blueberry mixture. Place in the fridge, and chill for 2-3 hours. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 1 week.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Rust and Sunshine.

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these-

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

Lemon Curd Fruit Tarts

Layered Strawberry Parfaits

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