Grapefruit Curd

Two things happened around the same time:  my friend Lee told me how easy it was to make lemon curd and my mother in law brought me a bag of grapefruits.  The result was that I suddenly had to make grapefruit curd.  And give away some of it to prevent myself from eating it all.  It was pretty easy and so delicious.  I can't wait to make some kind of tart or pie or something with it. Or, I'll just have to learn to make clotted cream and scones.

Grapefruit Curd (makes about 2 cups)

Recipe from 101 Cookbooks

1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, strained

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup  granulated sugar OR 1/4 cup honey2 large egg yolks, preferably room temp
2 large eggs , preferably room temp
1/8 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained

Simmer the grapefruit juice in a small saucepan, reducing to 1/2 cup / 120 ml. Let it cool a bit.

Cream the butter in a medium stainless steel bowl (note: you'll use this bowl as a makeshift double-boiler later). Add the sugar and beat until fluffy and light. Add the yolks, and then the eggs one at a time, beating well to incorporate after each addition. Stir in the salt, and then gradually add the grapefruit juice and lemon juice working the juice in as you go.

Rinse out the small saucepan you used earlier, and fill 1/3 of the way full with water. Bring to a simmer, and place your stainless steel bowl of curd on top of it. Stir constantly, and heat the curd slowly enough that the sugar has time to dissolve. This step usually takes me about ten minutes. Pull the curd from the heat when it is just thick enough to coat your spoon. Your curd will thick substantially as it cools.

It will keep refrigerated for a week, or up to a month in the freezer.