Gourmandistan has seen the last of summer for this year, unless some lovely reader wishes to spirit us away to the Southern Hemisphere. (We will be available for away-spiriting after mid-October.) Which means peach season has sadly passed us by, but not before we discovered a delicious new way to use them.
After Michelle once again pointed out the many, many jars of jam in our freezer, Steve grudgingly admitted making peach jam wasn’t quite the necessity he believed it to be. Relieved of this burden, Michelle set about searching for a fitting end-of-season peach dessert. (She ignored Steve’s observation that a fresh, ripe peach makes a perfectly good dessert.) Looking around in Bill Neal’s Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie, she found a recipe for peach curd stuck at the end of the “Delectables” section. We are quite familiar with curds in Gourmandistan (Steve in particular is quite a fan of poutine) but we had only heard of the citrusy sort for dessert. The idea of peach curd quite intrigued us. Steve peeled and puréed several peaches, and Michelle carefully stirred up a lovely, marigold-tinted batch which we declared to be excellent. We paired our peach curd with small pâte sucrée tart shells, and the result was a sweet, spicy and slightly tangy treat we now hold in higher regard than any lemon, lime or other citrus curd. Until the next peach season (or our fantasy flight to Argentina) arrives, we may have to curb our curd making.
PEACH CURD
(adapted from Bill Neal’s Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie)
- 4 egg yolks
- 2/3 c. sugar
- 1 c. fresh peach purée
- 1 TB lemon juice
- 6 TB butter, cut into small bits
- 1/2 t. vanilla
Beat yolks with sugar, peach purée and lemon juice. Slowly simmer over moderate heat, stirring continuously until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in butter one bit at a time. Add vanilla. Pass through a fine-mesh sieve.
Pour warm curd into a pre-baked tart shell or shells. It’s best with a sweet crust. We used Alice Medrich’s easy recipe to make six 3-3/4″ tart shells.
If not making tarts, just place the curd in a jar and chill. Use it later on toast or biscuits.
Gourmandistan 
Fabulous! I would love this wayyyy more than lemon curd!
Thanks, Mimi—I adore lemon curd, but this was mighty good.
I love this recipe! It is so easy and my style of dessert. Thank you for the lovely recipe.
You are so welcome! And, you’re right. Some nice crisp crust with a bit of fruit curd on top often wins out over many fancier desserts.
Ha! “Steve in particular… poutine.” Only in Gourmandistan would peach curd and poutine be kissing cousins. Anyway, this sounds like a fantastic idea. We may still have a shot at a few peaches here. If so, this is on the list. Ken
Oh, yes, only Steve would connect fruit curd with cheese curds. But he’d mention poutine in every post if I let him. 🙂 It’s a lovely recipe, as most of Bill Neal’s are. Sad that I find this recipe lots of places on the Internet with no reference to him. The original called for rosewater instead of vanilla. So it’s a dead giveaway when somebody is copying it without attribution.
I hate that. It’s like having your photographs show up on someone else’s site. Ken
Looks great! No reasons all curds must be citrus, right?
Indeed! It makes one wonder what else would mix well with eggs and butter. Hmmm, well, just about anything?
That sounds delicious! It’s still very hot here (oddly), but the rain is coming tomorrow (so they say) all day…
It was, M.D.! It shouldn’t have been a surprising thing, but it was. I’d never thought of it.
Better than lime curd! That’s quite a gauntlet you’ve thrown down, there.
🙂
I wish we had nicer peaches. This looks gorgeous.
Thanks so much, Misti. Wonder what it is about the English peaches. Too much rain, perhaps? Here, the biggest danger seems to be when there’s a late freeze and they don’t develop. They were very nice this year though.
I have peaches for a couple more weeks, I’ll have to give this one a shot!
Oh, lucky you! Hope you like it.
Absolutely fucking amazing, pardon my french. I still have loads of peaches. I am doing this. I repeat, amazing.
I am shocked. Shocked. Ha, ha, ha. I curse like a sailor. A friend at my high school reunion pointed that out and all I could say was “well, that’s what lawyers do.” I thought about you and all your wonderful peaches when I posted this morning. It really is yummy. Can’t wait to hear if you agree.
I’m crashing Susan’s comment string, but I just hope I can use the f-word when I’m 80. Which is getting closer…
I’m quite fond of poutine as well 🙂
As for this curd, it looks absolutely wonderful. I am a big fan of lemon curd and would never have thought to make peach curd. Such a great idea!
Of course you are. 🙂 I’d never thought of it either, Daisy. And it’s quite good. Hope you’re doing well!
Love the idea of a peach curd tart! They look fabulous!
Thank you! Wish I could say I thought of it myself. But, I’m glad I happened upon it.
Oh this is perfect! I had several nectarines left over from the u-pick farm that I didn’t know what to do with, so sliced and froze them. Well guess what’s thawing? 🙂
Wonderful!
Sounds delicious, Michelle. The larger the variety of curds, the better this World will be.
Aint it the truth, John?
I’ve just bought some homemade flat peach jam – you’ve inspired me to make tarts. Just lovely
Thanks, Sally. I bet it would be delicious to put some peach jam on the bottom of the tarts under the curd.
Oh my. I’m in. Peaches are only a month or so away here….I can’t wait!
Ah, the bad thing about blogging friends in the other hemisphere… I am going to be very jealous of you over the coming months!
Brilliant idea, which I probably won’t do as I’m too lazy. I can, however, enjoy the picture whilst eating a peach….a flat one on this occasion.
Ha, ha, Roger. You are many things. But lazy is not one of them. 🙂
If you can manage to get yourselves to Massachusetts, you can make peach curd for a couple more weeks. I know a particular blogger in Boston who wouldn’t mind receiving a batch…
I’ve made rhubarb curd before. Lemon has some serious competition. What I love about your peach curd is that, with its color, you could sneak it into a tart with no adornment and surprise someone who takes a bite and expects it to be classic lemon.
Lucky you to still be in peach season! But, as they say in Game of Thrones: winter is coming. (Ugh.) Oooh, rhubarb curd. I’ll have to remember that for next year!
Oh Michelle and Steve–It’s hard for me to believe that anything can be better than lemon curd. I’ve got two fat,ripe peaches on my counter. I’ll let you know. This will be fun!
We do like hyperbole here. Think of it this way: the best curd is the one that’s in your spoon at any given time. 🙂
HA! Oh, the secrets of the universe divulged.
This looks like a must-try to me 🙂
Merci, Carine!
That peach is a alternative to the sharp flavoured lemon curd
Thanks, Raymund. The spicy peaches do make an interesting curd.
Very inventive indeed. I am sick of the poor quality peaches we get here in Ireland. They are rock hard and often branded “ripen at home”. They never ripen. They just go slightly soft on the outside before getting thrown in the compost. What a waste. I can’t wait to get to France for next year’s crop.
So, what do you figure? Too wet in England and Ireland? As you say, I think they’re good in France (though I’m sadly never there during peach season.)
Oh, Conor, and what you describe … that’s pears for us.
The French ones are a lot bigger, bursting with flavour and are also very delicate. We put up with pretty poor standards on most of our fruit and veg. Perhaps we are just not that interested? I miss my French ones….
This looks totally fantastic! And it is indeed such an intriguing récipe!!
Grazie!
If ever I could spirit someone away, it would be you Michelle & these peach curd tarts. Love that little sprig of thyme, so beautiful and yes, it will be summer here soon, but we’ll keep it safe for you till next spring!
Oh, thank goodness, Alice. Winter is so dreadful!
I have never thought about making a peach curd, but this sounds so good. Lemon is a bit too tart for my tastes, but the peach sounds lovely. Guess I’ll be giving it a try!
mmmmmm, yummmmm, an excellent, divine, juicy mini tartilicious sweets 😀
The problem for me when it comes to this recipe is that I will have eaten them before I get a chance to pulse them! Thank you lovely recipe 🙂
Thanks for reminding me I need to make this again before this year’s peaches are gone!
I made this recipe today to use up some nectarines and peaches. It was so good I made another batch.
Excellent idea!
I realize this comment is 6 years late and I hesitate to post, but why not? I have Bill Neal’s book and made this peach curd today. I was googling peach curd to see other uses for it and found your post. It’s in the refrigerator at this moment and I plan to put it on toast in the morning. Cheers.
It’s never too late! Hope you enjoy it. I’m looking forward to peach season.
Made the curd today. So good!
Our peach season is almost here. Hooray!
I tried this recipe twice. Both times, it really didn’t want to set enough for a tart. So I ended up putting it in the freezer, but it was excellent as a frozen tart dessert during the summer months while the peaches are in season.
You know, since we published this way back when I’ve sometimes had the same trouble and just ended up using the curd on toast or something. I guess it has to do with how wet the peaches are. Sounds like you had the perfect solution, though!