This Orange, Whiskey and Star Anise curd is the newest arrival in my ongoing curd obsession. I love curd. Virtually every cake I make is filled with a curd, whether it’s my mango and lime recipe, a classic lemon curd, raspberry curd or an exotic passion fruit curd. I love how versatile they are. I use them as a snack with yogurt, as a dip, to spread on scones or to fill cupcakes.

This recipe moves away a little from the light zesty curds I normally make. The sweetness of the orange provides the perfect backdrop for the warm hit of the whiskey and the lingering aromas of the star anise. Can I say a curd is masculine? If a curd could be masculine, it would be a curd like this. If blood oranges were in season, they would be even better. Not just because of their vivid colour, but because they would add an extra depth of flavour. Without the spice and whiskey in this recipe, the orange would be too sweet. You could of course, play with different variations. Ginger is really good with this and I like the heat of peppercorns with sweet citrus flavours.

This curd is a great way of showcasing good whiskey. I used a Teeling Small Batch Whiskey which I actually won in a hamper from The Taste. The Taste run lots of fantastic competitions, and it was because I won that one (I never win anything!) that I actually ended up writing for them. Their site is well work checking out if you’re interested in any aspect of food!

This recipe takes about fifteen minutes to make, and is actually quite delicious warm. I enjoyed it with strawberries and bitter dark chocolate straws. I think it would be great served warm with ice cream and also makes a really pretty edible gift if you package it up in a jar.

Orange, Whiskey and Star Anise Curd

Ingredients

4 Oranges

4 eggs

1 star Anise

100 grams of butter

100 grams of sugar

2 tablespoons of whiskey

 Method

1. Place the star anise, sugar  juice and zest of the oranges in a saucepan. Zest before you juice – it’s so much easier.
2. Warm this up slowly, allowing the sugar to dissolve and the star anise flavour to infuse.
3. Beat the eggs together. Add the butter to bring down the temperature a bit if it’s steaming (You don’t want to cook the eggs too quickly), and quickly mix in the eggs. If the mix isn’t too hot, leave the butter until the end.
4. Cook over a medium heat for about eight minutes, until the mixture has thickened and is almost a custard yellow.
5. Sieve to make sure there aren’t any lumpy eggy bits and leave to cool! Sieve it into a the butter if you haven’t added it yet.
6. Mix in the whiskey…maybe add one tablespoon to begin with and add more to taste.
7. Enjoy!