Jordan Bourke is an Irish chef and a fellow Observer Food Monthly Award Winner (2016) for his best-selling Our Korean Kitchen, which he wrote with his gorgeous wife, Rejina Pyo and which won Best New Cookbook, as well as the Fortnum & Mason Cookery Book Award 2016.
In his new latest book, Healthy Baking, Jordan shows us how easy it is to make nourishing sourdoughs, delicious bakes, abundant grain salads, bubbling ferments and more.
Using alternatives to refined sugar and featuring lots of options to make recipes gluten and dairy-free, it’ll have massive appeal to those people who have such food intolerances.
A sucker for lemon curd and the fact that I was off to a friend for afternoon tea and scones, I hit upon Jordan’s Citrus Curd of Lemon and Orange and thought it would make the perfect gift and a good excuse to try out something from the book.
Citrus Curd of Lemon and Orange
And if truth be known, whilst I like the thought of making bread, I have to say I’m also a little bit scared about the concept and the various equipment required. Jordan also says that sourdough which makes up the first chapter, along with recipes for yeasted loaves and quick breads, pittas, wraps and oatcakes, does require patience and a little bit of practice, which I didn’t have time for on this occasion.
Jordan’s lemon curd differs differently from the Lemon res-Curd recipe I’ve written about before on this blog, when I had a glut of egg yolks to use up, the result of a colleague on an egg white omelette diet.
Jordan’s curd recipe replaces the sugar with set honey, uses less butter (and offers an alternative of extra virgin coconut oil) and whole eggs rather than just egg yolks. I contemplated using the extra virgin coconut oil but at £9.99 a pot, quickly decided against it.
- Zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons
- Zest of 1 orange
- 200g set honey
- 80g extra virgin coconut oil or unsalted butter
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 x 250 glass jars with a lid, sterilised
- Put all the ingredients, apart from the eggs, into a heatproof bowl, set over a pan of gently simmering water, ensuring that the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir the mixture until the oil and honey melt down.
- Mix in the eggs, whisking constantly until fully incorporated, making sure the heat is not too high or the eggs will scramble. Cook the mixture for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently, until the curd is thick and creamy. (NB. My mixture actually took 50 minutes, with frequent stirring, to thicken to the desired consistency).
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely, then transfer to the sterilised jars, cover and keep refrigerated for up to 2 months.
So there you have it, if you want a taste of summer, I recommend giving this a try. It made a nice gift too, presented in a Kilner jar, I brought from the supermarket. Beautiful spread on scones or toast, I also swirled it into some whipped cream, which I dolloped onto a pavlova, decorated with more lemon curd, chocolate eggs and drizzled chocolate, which made for a quick Easter dessert.
Easter Pavlova Nest – naughty but very nice
Healthy Baking by Jordan Bourke
Healthy Baking – Nourishing Breads, Wholesome Cakes, Ancient Grains and Bubbling Ferments by Jordan Bourke is published by Orion as a hardback and eBook, priced £20/£10.99 (February 2017)
ISBN – 978-1-4091-6889-8
Thank you to Jordan Bourke and Orion Publishing for letting me reproduce the Citrus Curd of Lemon and Orange recipe
