Fruity experiments

I’ve made a lot of Lemon Curd recently, partly for product photos, also for an afternoon tea at The Shed and  I’ll shortly be making some for a Big Lunch in Peckham. It suddenly dawned on me that I haven’t tried any new flavours for quite some time!

So, inspired by a thank-you present of Maldon Smoked Salt several weeks ago that I was yet to open, I set to thinking at work yesterday..

I’ve written before about about my wish to create new, seasonal curds, for the quality of fruit but also because it somehow feels like a more natural way of existing. So, taking advantage of the abundance of stunning summer fruit which is currently available I was led swiftly to summer berries.

Blueberries to be exact.

With smoked salt.

And the other ingredients a person would add to curd (butter, sugar, egg).

It doesn’t sound right, in fact, it sounds really a bit wrong.

However, somehow the sweet, and simultaneously bitter edge of the blueberries when cooked with the salt and pushed through a sieve creates a lip-smacking spread which, though quite American in flavour, is really quite lush.

I think I’ll have a play with some Grapefruit and Pineapple combinations later in the week. I’m also contemplating the addition of some candied lemon flesh to the Blueberry curd to give it a bit more kick.

What is the opinion on these left of centre curds, I know there are creative people like Anarchy in a Jar doing it with jam in Brooklyn, but what happens to our opinions and feeling about these combinations when the flavours are muddled with dairy as well as sugar?

Comments/ideas/requests all very much appreciated…