Sweet, tangy and super easy to make! This silky smooth and delicious blueberry curd is a small batch recipe for a fun new tea time treat. It is also a great way to add flavour to a wide range of recipes and can be used in so many desserts!
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Why you'll love it
- Super flavourful - the process of making curd will heighten and enhance the flavours of the blueberries, concentrating them in a luscious and thick blueberry spread.
- Vibrant natural colour - blueberries are such a great natural dye and this blueberry curd is a brilliantly purple shade! Rich, deep purple and all the better because there is absolutely no need for artificial food colouring.
- Small batch - this recipe will make roughly 1 cup of blueberry curd (more or less dependent on how much puree you end up with after straining). There's no need to mess around with storing loads of curd - this gives you just enough for a blueberry curd cake filling or to have for a tea party or to use in other recipes.
- 5 ingredients - you'll only need five simple ingredients. A few cupboard staples, some berries and lemon juice. Nothing extravagant and, better yet, no special tools required - just a saucepan, a whisk and a spoon.
Ingredient Notes
This is fundamentally a five ingredient recipe. You'll need:
- Blueberries - you can use fresh or frozen blueberries here. I recommend frozen partly because the quality of frozen berries is often actually better than fresh (dependent on season and area). This is because they're packaged and frozen at their best possible point, as opposed to many store bought blueberries being sold at sub-optimal ripeness.
- Light brown sugar - firmly packed measurements. The brown sugar will enhance the flavour of the blueberries and really deepen the richness of this curd. You can use granulated sugar or caster sugar in this recipe too.
- Lemon juice - you can use freshly squeezed juice from one lemon (roughly a tablespoon of juice) or store bought lemon juice. The lemon here helps to add a bit of freshness and a tang to the curd. It also works to thicken the mixture, much like in jams.
- Eggs - this recipe uses egg yolks and one whole egg. You could make it with just egg yolks, but using a whole egg (and therefore an egg white) makes for a smoother and creamier curd.
- Butter - unsalted butter works best here. You can use salted ,but it will add saltiness to the curd overall. Your butter doesn't need to be softened at room temperature, however, softer butter will melt more quickly into the warm curd. Butter in general isn't absolutely essential in a curd - it adds to the indulgent glossy finish, but isn't actually required for a thick or delicious curd.
What are the Best Blueberries for Curd
So, controversially, I find frozen blueberries are the best for curd. They'll impart a strong blueberry flavour and a really deep purple colour. Fresh blueberries can vary quite a bit, largely due to the fact that they're sold at varying points of ripeness, which can impact the finished curd.
I've not tested this curd with wild blueberries, so I cannot vouch for flavour or colour. However, the process should work very similarly.
Curds and preserves are a great opportunity to preserve local berry varieties and the quality of the berries you use will have a direct impact on the flavour profile of your curd. If you use tart berries, the curd will likely be more tart (especially if you don't add extra sugar!). If your berries are super ripe and sweet, this will come through in the curd.
This is a great recipe for using some fresh or frozen blueberries!
How to Make Blueberry Curd
To make this quick small batch blueberry curd you'll need to follow this simple step-by-step process.
- Start by placing the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan (image 1 below) and cooking this over a medium heat. Stir occasionally while the berries begin to break down, giving off their juices and the sugar dissolved. Bring this to a boil.
- Once the mixture boils, remove it from the heat and blitz in a food processor or blender to puree the berries. (image 2 below)
- Put the pureed blueberry sauce through a sieve back into a saucepan (you can simply use the same one as before!). (image 3 below)
- In a small bowl beat your egg yolks and whole egg together with a fork. Then carefully pour this into the strained blueberry juice, whisking continuous to avoid the eggs cooking. (image 4 below)
- Place the saucepan onto the heat and cook for about 15-20 minutes whilst stirring occasionally until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. (image 5 below)
- Remove from the heat and add the butter (image 6 below). Stir this through as it melts into the warm curd.
- Pour into a jar or a heatproof bowl to cool completely.
Expert Tips
My top tips for this curd are:
- Use frozen berries - they give a really lovely deep purple colour to the curd.
- I like to puree my blueberry sauce in a blender since it breaks the berries down really well. You can use a food processor, though depending on the size of your food processor or an immersion blender (dependent on the pan that you're cooking in).
- If you are concerned about adding the eggs to the mixture, you can temper them first by adding a ladle-full of the pureed warm blueberry sauce to the beaten eggs (slowly, whisking continuously) before returning this all to the saucepan.
- Don't try to rush the cooking process! The eggs will thicken the curd, but you don't want to actually bring the mixture to a boil once the eggs are in it, or this might become lumpy and essentially scramble.
- Test doneness by coating the back of a spoon and running your finger through it (carefully, it will be hot!). The curd should give a clean spoon a thick coating. Wiping a line across the middle with your finger, should leave a clean, clear and distinct space that isn't filled by runny curd.
Variations
Just like any other fruit preserve, you have options to make this curd more bespoke. Some easy opportunities to put your own twist on this recipe are:
- Different blueberries - the type of berry used in this recipe will have an impact on flavour and colour of the finished curd. You can experiment with local varieties, which can be great fun during blueberry season!
- Adding spice - blueberries work really well with spices, such as cinnamon. If you want to try out adding a bit of a spice to this curd, wait until you take it off the heat, before adding the butter. Add a little cinnamon (or other spice) to taste and then stir in the butter.
- Changing the citrus - lemon juice in this recipe helps to thicken the curd, but also gives it a fresh zing. You could also use lime juice or orange juice, each of which will work in a similar way, but imparting a slightly different flavour profile to the curd.
- Bit of booze - just like my Lime Curd recipe, you could add a touch of alcohol to this recipe, to give it a punch. You can add a tablespoon of tequila or other spirits early on (at the first stage when you're heating the blueberries with sugar and lime juice) and the alcohol will mostly cook off during the process. Or you can add it at the end to make an boozy blueberry curd.
Uses and Serving Suggestions
So, now you have you've made this recipe, you might be wondering, what do you do with blueberry curd? Well, the options are really limitless here! Some of my top suggestions are:
- Blueberry cake filling - curds are a great cake filling. You can use it on its own in between the layers of a cake. For example, use this curd in place of the jam in my Blueberry Jam Layer Cake. Or try folding it into some stabilized vanilla whipped cream to give a lighter structure.
- Add to panna cotta - use the vanilla panna cotta base from my Cherry Panna Cotta recipe and top it with blueberry curd for a tangy blueberry twist.
- Pie filling - just like my Blood Orange Tartlets, you can use blueberry curd as a pie filling.
- Mix into ice cream - you can make a blueberry ice cream with added curd, it freezes well and will flavour your cream with a good dose of blueberry.
- With yoghurt, toast or a scone - this curd is perfect to stir into yoghurt, spread on some toast or use with a scone for a fun teatime treat.
FAQs
Yes! This is an easy recipe for a small batch of blueberry curd. This is a fun change from traditional blueberry jam, giving a rich and almost creamy spread made from blueberries.
Fruit curds, including this berry curd will keep well in a jar or sealed bowl in the fridge for about a week or two. This will depend a bit on the freshness of the ingredients you've used.
Yes, blueberry curd can be frozen. Allow it to cool completely before adding to a freezer safe container and storing in the freezer for up to 3 months. It should then be defrosted in the refrigerator before using.
If you find your curd is still runny, the most likely issue is that you've not cooked the curd long enough.
If you've only just removed the curd from the heat, and added the butter, you can return this to the heat and continue cooking a little longer. Alternatively, you can allow it to cool, during which time it will usually thicken a little on its own.
The curd will be delicious, even if a bit runny, so don't worry too much!! Try it as a sauce for ice cream, a drizzle over cake or a sweet dip.
Looking for more blueberry recipes? Try:
- Blueberry Jam Cake
- Brown Sugar Blueberry Pavlova
- Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
- Blueberry Jam without Pectin
- Nectarine Bread
- Blueberry Angel Food Cake
- No Bake Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce
Blueberry Curd
Ingredients
- 8 oz blueberries fresh or frozen
- ¼ cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice approximate measurement - you can use the juice of 1 lemon or store bought fresh lemon juice (not from concentrate)
- 2 egg yolks from large eggs, ideally at room temperature
- 1 large egg ideally at room temperature
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter ideally at room temperature
Instructions
- Begin by adding the blueberries, lemon juice and sugar to a saucepan. Place this over a medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved, the blueberries are releasing their juices and the mixture is just brought to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into a blender or food processor. Blitz to puree the blueberries. (see note)
- Strain the blueberry puree, returning the strained juice to the saucepan.
- In a separate bowl, light beat your egg yolks and full egg. While the pan is still off the heat, slowly pour this into the blueberry juice whilst whisking the juice continuously to prevent the eggs from cooking in the warm liquid. (see note)
- Place the saucepan back on a medium heat and cook, while stirring, until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 10-15 minutes). Avoid bringing to a boil.
- Once thickened, remove from the heat and add the butter, stirring to melt.
- Pour the blueberry curd into a jar or a heat proof bowl and allow to cool.
A connoisseur
That main photo of the curd is great!