This healthy blackcurrant curd is a thick, tangy fruit curd which is delicious with breakfast and desserts. It's made without refined sugar or butter, and it's rich in vitamin C.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- A delicious healthy blackcurrant recipe, perfect for homegrown blackcurrants or frozen fruit
- Much lower in added sugar than a conventional recipe and made without butter. This healthy blackcurrant curd is dairy free and gluten free.
- Blackcurrants are a great source of antioxidants and vitamin C
- Easy to make in one pan. No sieving or double boiler required!
- This homemade healthy blackcurrant curd is versatile and delicious. Add a dollop to your breakfast, include in a healthy dessert, or use as a blackcurrant spread on toast or to sandwich cakes together.
You might also like these other sugar-free stewed fruits and jams.
Ingredients
You'll just need 5 simple ingredients for this healthy blackcurrant curd recipe
Blackcurrants. You can either use fresh or frozen blackcurrants. There's no need to defrost frozen fruit.
Remove any green stems from the fruit, but you can leave the little tail at the end of the blackcurrants.
Honey. A full sized jar of this low-sugar blackcurrant curd is sweetened with just 4 tablespoons of honey.
Coconut oil replaces the butter that is normally in a traditional curd recipe. It's not essential in the recipe, the curd will still set without it, it'll just be slightly less rich and creamy. If you prefer, use a tablespoon of butter.
Eggs are essential in the recipe. I've made this curd with whole eggs to avoid the hassle of leftover whites
Lemon juice improves the flavour and is a slight preservative
How to make healthy blackcurrant curd
Add the blackcurrants to a pan along with 90 ml of water. If you are using frozen blackcurrants, reduce the water to 45ml.
Place the pan on a medium heat and bring the fruit to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. The juices will start to run and the blackcurrants will soften and break down.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the honey, lemon juice and coconut oil. Blitz in the pan with a hand blender until completely smooth.
If you don't have an immersion blender, tip the mixture into a small blender or food processor.
By now the mixture should have cooled slightly - carefully check with a clean finger, if it's a comfortable temperature, it won't scramble the eggs!
Crack the eggs into the fruit puree and blitz again until smooth.
Return the curd mixture to the stove and place on a very, very low heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture just starts to bubble around the edge. This should take about 10 minutes if you keep the heat very low. The cooked blackcurrant curd will be thick and creamy. Remove the pan from the heat.
Pour the finished blackcurrant curd into a jar and store in the fridge. The quantities in this recipe will fill a 400g jar.
Recipe tips
- I've left the tiny seeds in this healthy blackcurrant curd as they are very nutritious, and I quite like the texture. If you want a completely smooth curd, you can sieve the fruit puree to remove them. Squeeze as much mixture through the sieve as you can. You'll end up with a slightly reduced quantity of curd.
- I use a gas hob and it's easy to adjust the heat to a tiny flame and keep it very low. If you find it tricky to keep the heat very low on your hob, you can cook the curd in a bowl set over a pan of boiling water. It'll take a little longer to cook, but there will be less risk of the eggs curdling
- If you are concerned that the eggs are fully cooked, use a sugar thermometer and check that the temperature has reached 77 degrees (170 F).
Serving and storage
Store the curd in a lidded jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
It's very tempting to eat this healthy blackcurrant curd straight from the jar! I like a dollop with Greek yogurt for breakfast, topped with some nuts and seeds. I'm also going to freeze a pot to enjoy with my porridge and oat flour pancakes in the winter.
You can also spread a layer of blackcurrant curd on a healthy cheesecake, or use it to sandwich layers of cake together. It's also the perfect topping for healthy scones.
Or try making a healthy blackcurrant tart. Use this healthy pastry recipe with oats and olive oil and fill the tart case with a thick layer of blackcurrant curd.
Frequently asked questions
Blackcurrant curd is creamier and richer than jam as it contains eggs and butter (or coconut oil) in the recipe. Blackcurrant jam consists of just fruit and sugar which are boiled together until thick.
Both blackcurrant curd and blackcurrant jam can be made according to a recipe which is healthy or unhealthy. If you want to make a healthy jam recipe, you can use chia seeds, fruit and a spoonful of honey for sweetness.
Other healthy blackcurrant recipes
If you've got a glut of homegrown blackcurrants, you might also like these other healthy blackcurrant recipes. They are all low in added sugar.
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Recipe
Healthy Blackcurrant Curd
Equipment
- immersion blender
Ingredients
- 250 g blackcurrants fresh or frozen
- 4 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Add the blackcurrants to a pan and add 90 ml of water. If you are using frozen blackcurrants, reduce the water to 45ml.250 g blackcurrants
- Place on a medium heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes until the fruit is soft and the juices start to run.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, the coconut oil and honey and stir together.1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, 4 tbsp honey
- Using an immersion blender, blitz the mixture until you have a smooth, thick blackcurrant puree.
- By now, the mixture should have cooled so that you can easily hold your finger in it without burning. Crack the two eggs directly into the blackcurrant puree and blitz again until smooth.2 eggs
- Place the curd back on a very, very low heat, otherwise the mixture will curdle. Whisk constantly until the mixture just starts to come to the boil, then remove immediately from the heat. This should take at least 10 minutes if you've got the heat low enough. The cooked blackcurrant curd will be thick and creamy.
Notes
- In place of coconut oil, you can substitute a tablespoon of butter. You can also omit both if you prefer; the blackcurrant curd will still set but will be a little less rich and velvety.
- I can easily get a very low heat on my gas hob. If it's difficult to adjust your hob to a very low heat, you can cook the curd in a basin set over a pan of boiling water. It'll take a little longer to cook, but you'll reduce the risk of it curdling.
- I've left the seeds in this blackcurrant curd as they are very nutritious. If you prefer a completely smooth curd, sieve the seeds out once you've made the blackcurrant puree. Squeeze as much as you can through the sieve so you don't waste any of that lovely, tangy blackcurrant flavour.
- If you are concerned about the eggs being fully cooked through, use a sugar thermometer and check that the temperature has reached 77 degrees (170 F).
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is per serving and is provided for guidance only.
Cathy says
A great new use of blackcurrants thank you. Will be lovely with good yoghurt or ice cream.
Wendy Faulkner says
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. I got hooked on this last year and can't wait for my blackcurrants to ripen!