I love me some citrus. You name a citrus fruit and I'll begin salivating. I just find their juicy tartness so refreshing and delicious. One of my favorite citruses is the blood orange, and I can barely contain my excitement when I finally see them hit the farmers market stands and grocery stores. This winter season, I loaded up on as many blood oranges my arms could carry because I had some plans for these beauties.

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I wanted to give homemade gifts to friends and family, and because I love the idea of seasonal food gifts, blood orange curd made it to the top of my list. Lemon curd is one of my favorite treats, so when I came across a blood orange curd recipe, I got myself lots of eggs and some butter and got to work. (You can find my lemon curd here)

The process doesn't take long, but making sure the curd is smooth and creamy does take care. I combined a couple of different recipes to ensure a sweet, slightly tart, and velvety taste and texture. Enjoy a jar for yourself, but be sure to gift a jar to someone you love!

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BLOOD ORANGE CURD RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 3 whole eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup blood orange juice
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (preferably Meyer lemon)
• 1 tablespoon of blood orange zest
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 2 min. Slowly add the eggs and egg yolks and beat until incorporated. Mix in blood orange and lemon juice.
2. In a saucepan, cook the mixture over low heat until it looks smooth. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly for about 15 minutes (to avoid bits of scrambled eggs) until it thickens. Don't let the mixture boil.
3. Remove the curd from the heat and stir in the zest.
4. If canning, place in sterilized jars and process for 20 minutes. Note that canned jars of curd will last for about 3 months and, once opened, up to 2 weeks.