The project.
PHOTOGRAPHS INDIA WHILEY-MORTON
Stone fruit season is one of my favourites. Biting into something so juicy that you might have to eat it over the sink is one of life’s joys, especially when the out-of-season alternatives are hard as bullets, never really ripen and taste of very little. And while I do love the small, tender plums and greengages grown in the UK, there’s something about the smooth yellow flesh of a peach or nectarine that you can’t beat. It’s the taste of sunshine.
As with many of the best seasonal fruit, blink and you’ll miss them – with a yearlong wait before they’re back. To extend that fresh, juicy, sunny taste, I make nectarine curd. As fruit curds are smooth and buttery they work best with punchy flavours – it’s why sharp lemons or sweet and sour passion fruit are popular choices. Nectarines work just as well, still offering enough acidity to create the required tang but with a joyfully sweet finish.
Swapping fruit in and out of curds simply relies on the ratios of liquids and can be tweaked for taste to get the balance of sweet and tart. Where a citrus curd relies on pure juice and zest, stone fruit can be whizzed to a pulp, giving you a thicker base to work with. I keep the skins on, not just to save on waste but because it gives the curd a beautiful pinky-orange hue. If you have a good blender you won’t be left with any bits, but you can always pass the purée through a sieve before making it into curd.
HOW TO AVOID A SCRAMBLE
A curd is basically a custard made with fruit instead of dairy. And as with custard, the trickiest part of the process is avoiding scrambling the eggs. Gentle heat and taking your time are the best ways to stop this happening. Some recipes suggest cooking the curd in a bain-marie (a bowl set above a pan of simmering water), as the indirect heat will give you more control, but I don’t think that’s necessary. As long as you keep the pan over a low-medium heat and stir gently yet consistently, you’ll be fine. Just don’t let your mind wander or try to multitask; a good curd needs your full attention.
In this recipe, I’ve combined the nectarine and sugar mixture with the eggs off the heat (in the same way that you’d pour warmed milk/cream over the eggs to make custard), then poured the mixture back into the pan to thicken it up. This is a precautionary measure to ensure the heat doesn’t shock the eggs and scramble them. If the mixture in the pan isn’t too hot, you could crack the eggs straight in – but my method is still simple and far less risky.