Cranberry Curd is the beauty queen of Fall jams

Boy howdy is cranberry curd gorgeous: vivid red berries with smooth tartness laced with big orange vanilla and ginger flavors.

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If you’ve tried my lemon meringue bars, you already have a good idea of what lemon curd is. Curd belongs to a family of jams that are thickened by egg yolks. It works for fruits that don’t have enough pulpy matter like citrus fruits because the egg yolks do the work of thickening. But you can also apply the concept of curd to other fruits like cranberries and mango, and here’s why that’s genius.

Cranberries are mouth-puckering tart. Curd introduces extra fat from butter and egg yolks that smooths out that bracing cranberry taste and adds some balance you don’t usually get in a plain cranberry sauce.

Plus, my goodness this cranberry curd is beautiful. There are few things that are more vivid than this bright pinky red. Additionally, the process of making the curd gives you this glisteningly smooth texture that’s unmatched. There’s a lot of pretty things you can make when you bake, but this is close to the top.

It’s cranberry time, so grab a bag and let’s make this curd!

Cranberry Curd

Why cranberry curd will win your heart

1. Tart but not bracing: Cranberries are really high in tannins. Those tannins dry out your mouth like nothing else. The fat from the butter and the egg yolks smooth out the effects of the tannins, giving you a tart but not, “Holy cow, that’s sour” taste to your jam.
2. It’s just so pretty: If you’re a pinky red kind of person, you will love this. It’s bold and dramatic, perfect for adding to jam thumbprints, little tarts, or just topping your oatmeal.
3. Not too sweet: Yes you must add more sugar than I would normally do for jams because cranberries are incredibly tart, but the amount of sugar in this recipe will give you a balanced flavor. You’ll taste many layers of tart-sweet-spice-smoothness because everything is in harmony.

Helpful equipment for making cranberry curd

1. Immersion blender: You’ll need some kind of blender to break up the cranberries before you strain them. An immersion blender is perfect for this task as it won’t overblend anything like a blender and it won’t dirty a big piece of equipment like a food processor. Do use a food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender.
2. Fine mesh strainer: This is absolutely essential if you want smooth glossy curd. You’ll have to strain out all the cranberries’ seeds to get the smooth strained cranberry puree.
3. Flexible dough scraper: This is not critical, but a flexible dough scraper is a useful tool for pressing the cranberry pulp into the strainer, forcing the puree to fall through the mesh. I use the same technique for my raspberry jam, and it makes quick work of straining the pulp. A dang old spoon does the trick too; it just takes a little longer.
4. Instant read thermometer: The egg yolks need to be heated until they’re hot enough to thicken the curd but not so hot that they scramble. An instant read thermometer takes the guesswork out of this process.

Easy ideas for using up your leftover cranberry pulp

After you strain the cranberries, you’ll be left with sweetened cranberry pulp. There’s no reason to waste this absolutely delicious bit of fruit. You can freeze it immediately or fridge it to use it in another recipe within a couple days. Here’s some easy ways you can get the most out of your cranberries:

1. Cranberry butter: Smoosh the cranberry pulp with 2 sticks of room temperature butter until smooth for cranberry butter.  You can scrape the mixture into a large piece of plastic or waxed paper to help you form it into a log.  From there you can chill it and use it to top your toast or oatmeal.
2. Cranberry chicken salad (or turkey): Stir the cranberry pulp into chopped up chicken or turkey, finely diced celery, a diced apple, and a shallot plus a little mayo, a spoonful of Dijon mustard and some toasted pecans (or chai spiced maple candied pecans!) for the best chicken salad you’ve ever had.
3. Cranberry cookies: Stir the pulp into a batch of soft sugar cookies, maybe with 1/2 cup of chopped candied orange peel and then bake them as normal for perfectly lovely cranberry cookies.

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