Home-made orange curd

At this grim, energy sapping time of year, citrus fruits really help perk you up, with those fresh tangy flavours and all that Vitamin C. With my annual batch of marmalade out of the way, I was flicking through a magazine and a recipe for orange curd made my mouth water. I was also making a birthday cake for a friend and it seemed the ideal filling.

The recipe (from the January issue of Waitrose Kitchen) suggested Seville oranges, but I'd used up all mine in the marmalade, so used Navel oranges instead. The directions were quite straightforward. Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan: the zest and juice of 3 oranges and 2 lemons, 4 large eggs, 350g caster sugar and 225g unsalted butter, cubed. Heat the pan gently to melt the butter and beat with a whisk to combine the ingredients, then allow the mixture to gradually thicken, still whisking, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. In my case, this took a lot longer than the suggested 10 minutes and I had to keep changing hands. It was quite a workout. A bit more whisking was required as it cooled down. Finally, pour the curd into a couple of warm, sterilised jars, seal and store in the fridge. This recipe suggests using the curd within a week, but, as I'd cooked mine for so long (more than half an hour), I'm hanging on to it for a bit longer – I'm enjoying it as a breakfast treat on toast and might throw together an orange meringue pie inspired by my adaptation of the River Café's lemon tart my husband occasionally makes.

Since making the orange curd, I've consulted other recipes and several suggest stirring, rather than whisking which I'm prepared to try next time to save energy. Nigel Slater feels that using a whisk makes the curd lighter and more wobbly. Leith's in their Cookery Bible use a wooden spoon and Pam Corbin in the River Cottage Handbook on Preserves whisks the mixture together and then stirs it until it thickens, as does Marguerite Patten in Jams, Preserves and Chutneys who also points out that you shouldn't cook the curd for "too long" as it continues to thicken once it has cooled down.

Whichever way works best for you, homemade orange or lemon curd is a fabulous winter treat (particularly if followed by a back and shoulder massage if you choose to whisk it).

Blackberry jelly: preserving the taste of late summer

The summer holidays have flown by and our daughter is now settling back into her school routine. The holidays were strangely punctuated by the riots and a deep sense of fear and unease. As it turned out, that particular week I had arranged to take Alice camping for a few days in Epping Forest, and it was with great relieve we drove out of London into the ancient woodlands. We were blessed with good weather and one of the activities we enjoyed was foraging for blackberries. It reminded me of my childhood in the north London suburbs when I used to go blackberrying in Epping Forest with my mother and grandmother on sunny September afternoons, my grandmother expertly hooking the upper branches with a walking stick to reach the ripest berries. Jars of jam and a freezer full of fruit pies helped preserve these harvests.

Our recent foray yielded such delicious fruit that I was determined to do it as much justice as possible and, having never made fruit jelly, I was keen to give it a go. Here is the recipe I used from Basic Basics: Jams, Preserves and Chutneys by Marguerite Patten.

Blackberry (bramble) jelly
900g blackberries
150ml water
lemon juice
caster sugar
You will also need a jelly bag or muslin and sterilised jam jars.

Wash the blackberries, put into a large pan with the water and simmer gently until very soft. Press the fruit from time to time to release the juice.

Strain through a jelly bag or muslin. For clear, pristine juice, it is important to allow it to strain as gently as possible. I left mine overnight.

Measure the juice and allow 450g sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice for each 600ml juice. Heat the juice, add the sugar and lemon juice and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Then boil rapidly until setting point is reached, checking frequently.

Pour the jelly into hot jars and seal down. You can see from the picture below that mine has quite a firm set. Next time I'll reduce the boiling time to try to get a softer result. However, it does taste wonderful – pure, vibrant flavour and jewel-like appearance. (Go the whole hog and serve it with farmhouse butter seasoned with crunchy sea salt.)