Rhubarb Curd Recipe

I first started growing rhubarb about 8 years ago with a little three stemmed plant bought from Wigan Market.

The chap who runs the grocer’s stall also has a plant nursery and brings a selection to market with him. He told me that rhubarb was a no-brainer – easy to grow, lasts for years and tastes great. All.i had to do was plant it, water it once and leave it alone until the following year. So for a whole year I watched it grow, apparently die and then return grom the dead.

It was hard to resist eating those lovely pink and green stems the first year, but I did and that little plant has been repaying me ever since!

I’m always looking for new ways to use rhubarb – pies, jams, chutneys and now….rhubarb curd.

It’s delicious, it’s versatile and it’s PINK!! Well alright it’s peach….coral – it’s coral. I imagine you’ll be as excited to make rhubarb curd as I was so here’s the recipe.

You Will Need

900g rhubarb

270g unsalted butter- cubed

250g caster sugar

5 eggs

5 lightly heaped teaspoons of cornflour

Grenadine (optional)

Method

Chop the rhubarb into chunks
Blend but don’t worry about getting it super smooth
Taking a big spoonful at a time, pop it in the middle of a muslin cloth or a very clean cotton hankie and squeeze out all of the juice – you should have between 600 and 700ml
Place 500ml in a pan on a very low heat and set the rest aside
Add the chunks of butter to the pan
In a bowl which together the eggs and cornflour
Once the butter has melted, stir in the sugar. Keep stirring the mixture paying attention to the ‘corners’ as they’re most likely to catch
Once the sugar is pretty much dissolved, add the egg and cornflour mix and whisk
Keep whisking and stirring over a low heat
Eventually the curd will thicken
You need to keep cooking until the curd is a bit thicker than custard
Remove from the heat and let sit for a minute
Now add 100ml of the remaining rhubarb juice and stir in well
If you’d like that lovely coral pink colour, add a little grenadine. I got this shade from about 4 teaspoons
If the curd is now too loose, return to a low/medium heat for a few minutes
Allow to cool in the pan and then spoon into sterilised jars
Chill in the fridge

Home made curd of any flavour is generally best kept in the fridge which is unfortunate because it would look so pretty in a foodie gift hamper. So you’ll just have to eat it yourself, on toast, cakes, scones – whatever you like really.