Home-made elderflower curd

My beautiful sambucus nigra is still blooming, so I was on the lookout for another recipe in which I could use the flowers. These days, I find so much inspiration on Instagram; one of my Insta-buddies had just posted a photo of some delicious-looking elderflower curd she’d made, so I thought I’d give that a go.

She used the wild variety of elderflower which has delicate off white flowers however, the flowers on mine are tinged purple. I wondered how that would affect the colour of the resulting curd. I was worried that it would turn out a sludgy brown, but I needn’t have been apprehensive. It had a slight pinkish blush to the usual yellow colour.

This recipe makes a single, average-sized jar, but you can easily multiply the quantities. If you don’t think that you’ll consume all the curd in a week or two, make sure that you thoroughly sterilise all your post-cooking equipment; jars, lids, jelly bag/sieve, spoon/spatula, funnel etc. Simply boil them up in a large jam pan/saucepan of water.

The taste was gorgeous; rich and fragrant. So far, we’ve had it on fruit scones, but it would be perfect in sandwiches, toast or between the layers of a Victoria sponge. This is definitely an elderflower recipe I’ll be returning to every summer.

Click here or on the image below to save this elderflower curd recipe to Pinterest

Elderflower curd

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Cook Time 1

Course Condiment

Cuisine British

Ingredients

3 large or 6 small elderflower heads you can use either white or pink flowers
50 g/1¾oz unsalted butter
200 g/7oz white granulated sugar
1½ lemons zest & juice
2 eggs

Instructions

Sterilise a lidded jam jar, jelly bag or sieve, spatula and measuring jug. Set aside for the end
Put all the ingredients except the eggs into a saucepan over a low heat. Stir until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved
Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and allow the contents to cool slightly (about 5 minutes)
In the meantime, bring a saucepan of water to a simmer (ensure the heatproof bowl can sit on top of the saucepan without the water coming into contact with the base)
Add the eggs to the mixture and put the heatproof bowl on top of the saucepan of simmering water
Stir occasionally until the mixture thickens to the consistency of custard (about 45 minutes)
Pour the mixture through the sterilised jelly bag/sieve into the measuring jug. Push the contents through using the spatula, if necessary
Transfer the curd into the sterilised jar and cover immediately with the lid. Allow to cool completely before using

Keyword curd, elderflower, forage

Cakes & Bakes: Yorkshire curd tarts

I’d never eaten Yorkshire curd tarts before I’d moved to Yorkshire. I’ve never eaten a home made one until this week – just supermarket-bought… which were nice, but just nice. If you’ve never had one, I’d say they’re a cross between a cross between an Eccles cake, cheesecake and an egg custard tart.

They’ve been made since the 17th century, usually around Whitsuntide, using leftover curds from cheesemaking. Rather than being cooked in cake or tart tins, they’re traditionally done in saucers. Don’t try this if you think your lovely vintage china saucers may shatter in the oven!

I’ve wanted to make them before but I’ve never seen curd for sale anywhere. Now that I know how easy it is to make my own curds, I’ve given Yorkshire curd tarts a go!

You’ll need 2 pints of full-fat milk to make the right amount of curd for this recipe. Don’t be disappointed by the curd to whey ratio. All that resultant liquid shouldn’t be wasted. It can be used in bread making, cooking pasta, soaking & cooking pulses, lassi… some people even recommend using it as a natural shampoo!

I used a recipe from Joan Poulson’s Old Yorkshire Recipes teamed with Delia Smith’s version of shortcrust pastry.

Yorkshire curd tarts

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Ingredients

For the filling
225 g/8oz curds use 2pts of milk & 2tbs white or white wine vinegar
2 eggs
115 g/4oz sugar
55 g/2oz currants
small knob of butter melted
a little grated lemon rind I left this out
pinch of grated nutmeg
For the shortcrust pastry
115 g/4oz plain flour
55 g/2oz butter at room temperature
pinch of salt
dash of cold water

Instructions

To make the pastry: Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl
Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour
Using your fingertips, gently rub the fat into the flour
When the mixture looks uniformly crumbly, sprinkle over about 2tbs of cold water
Bring the mixture together using a round-bladed dinner knife; mixing and cutting
Bring the mixture together with your hands to form a smooth ball of dough that will leave the bowl clean
Rest the pastry, wrapped in cling film or tin foil, in the fridge for 20-30 minutes while you make the filling
To make the filling: Heat the milk until almost boiling and add the vinegar
Remove from the heat and stir until it curdles
Allow to cool slightly before straining through a fine muslin you can save the whey to use in bread baking or soaking/cooking pulses
Mix the curds with the dried fruit and flavourings
Beat the eggs well and stir into the curd mixture with the sugar and melted butter
Roll out the pastry and line 4 oven-proof saucers/sideplates before adding the curd mixture
Bake in a moderate oven (180ºC/350F) for 20 minutes or until set

Simple home made paneer

I’m a regular stalker of the discounted shelves and fridges in our local supermarket. I’m very strict though, I only ever pick something up that I would have bought anyway. On a recent, late evening trip to Morrisons in Todmorden, I saw a 4-pint bottle of whole organic milk for 89p down from £1.84. We don’t generally use full fat milk, and we never buy it in such large quantities, but I knew that I wanted to try making home made paneer.

Paneer is a simple curd cheese – similar to cottage cheese, mascarpone and quark – that relies on acid rather than rennet to form. From earlier research I knew that only full fat milk really works – and you need a fair amount of milk to make a big enough portion of paneer worth the process. You also need the acid which separates the curds from the whey. This can be in the form of natural yoghurt, citric acid, lemon juice or vinegar.

The process was like a doing a school science experiment. Heat the milk in a big saucepan, add the acid, stir and the alchemy of the separating liquid from solid happened instantaneously! I knew it was simple to do – but didn’t realise it was that simple. Why hadn’t I done it before? Paneer costs about £7 per kilo in the shops – when you can actually get hold of it that is!

We used some of it when making a curry and some of it like you would ricotta, in a spinach & paneer lasagne. We saved the whey and used it in place of the water when making a dhal. It made the dish slightly sweeter, creamier and tastier.

Here’s how I made it…

Simple home made paneer

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Ingredients

4 pints/2 litres full cream milk
150 g plain natural yoghurt
2 tsp white wine vinegar
or 1½tsp powdered citric acid
or 1½tsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt

Instructions

Sterilise a large piece of muslin, cheesecloth (or a lint-free glass cloth like I used) by putting it into a pan/heatproof bowl and covering it completely with boiling water from a kettle
Using tongs, remove the cloth from the water and spread it over a metal colander
If you plan on using the whey, put the colander into a large mixing bowl so that all the liquid can be collected
Put the milk into a heavy-bottomed pan and heat to boiling stirring regularly to prevent it burning
When it begins to bubble, add the yoghurt and vinegar turn off the heat and stir. The curds should separate from the whey
Set aside until cool enough to handle
Pour the contents of the saucepan into the cloth covered colander
Remove the colander from the mixing bowl, put the colander into the kitchen sink and carefully rinse the curds
Sprinkle evenly with salt
Take up the corners of the cloth into your hands and twist & squeeze as much of the liquid out as possible
Form the cloth into a block shape
(I put the cloth into a DIY 'mould', a plastic container that some mushrooms came in that I punched holes in the bottom of)
Weigh it down with something heavy (I put a jar of dried split peas into an identical mushroom container and popped that on top)
Put the paneer on to an under-plate and refrigerate with the weight still on top for about half an hour
The paneer is ready to cut into cubes to be used or can be removed from the cloth, covered in cling film/saran wrap and left in the fridge for up to 5 days

Keyword cheese,, paneer

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: curd

Home-made elderflower curd

Elderflower curd

Ingredients

Instructions

Cakes & Bakes: Yorkshire curd tarts

Yorkshire curd tarts

Ingredients

Instructions

Simple home made paneer

Simple home made paneer

Ingredients

Instructions