For me, grapefruit has been an acquired taste. My mom frequently ate half a grapefruit sprinkled with sugar for breakfast. And I frequently scoffed at her “old people food.” Food that she’d probably throw at me if she ever heard me refer to her as old

Now that I’m… older, I’ve grown to appreciate the fruit in many forms: broiled, margarita form, cookie form, and cake form. But let’s be honest – mostly in margarita form.

An absolutely delicious way to use up half a grapefruit is to make grapefruit curd, a smooth, citrusy, and tart concoction that you can smear over angel food cake, toast, biscuits, or scones. It makes a great cake filling, too.

Grapefruit juice alone isn’t acidic enough to thicken into the creamy deliciousness that you know as a citrus curd so you have to add a little lemon juice. A fact I discovered years ago before finding this recipe, after wasting 8 egg yolks and 2 sticks of butter in a mixture that just wouldn’t thicken.

The color of your curd will depend on the color of your grapefruit. This batch was a very pale, orangey yellow. A previous batch was from a beautiful ruby Texas Rio Star grapefruit and it was a pinkish, salmon color.

Grapefruit Curd

A smooth, citrusy, and tart concoction that you can smear over angel food cake, toast, or scones.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp grapefruit zest (about 1/2 a large grapefruit)
• 6 Tbsp grapefruit juice (about 1/2 a large grapefruit)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• 1 stick of butter, cut into 4 pieces

Instructions

1. Whisk the zest, juices, sugar, and eggs in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Add butter and whisk constantly, until thickened and smooth (a thermometer should read 160-170F).
2. Strain curd through a fine sieve set over another bowl. Serve warm or cover surface of curd with wax paper and cool completely.
3. Curd will keep a week in the fridge covered.

Notes

Yields: 1 1/2 cups

Adapted from Meyer Lemon Curd

Estimated time: 20 minutes