Blood orange curd and buttermilk scones are a perfect addition to any tea or breakfast party.
My friends and I had a tea party today! Not to be confused with anything political, this was just a good old-fashioned girl gathering with tea, coffee, finger sandwiches and dessert. I brought blood orange curd and buttermilk scones. I also made these cucumber tea sandwiches, which were a hit.
Blood orange curd is no different than lemon curd, if you’ve ever had it. You can make curd with any citrus fruit. It’s a rich, tangy custard that goes well in tarts or spread thick on fresh scones. If you’re feeling especially decadent it’s also heavenly by itself. Blood oranges are typically available in winter months, and sometimes you can find the juice bottled at the grocery store near regular orange juice. The recipe yields 5 cups, which is clearly a lot of curd and more than you’ll need to serve with the scones. You can certainly cut the recipe in half, but I think it makes a great gift! Buy some decorative canning jars and add cute labels. I gave everyone at the party a small jar of blood orange curd. Homemade gifts are always a special touch.
With regards to the scones, I only made a few changes to the original recipe. Most notably, I cut down on the sprinkled sugar since I knew I’d be serving them with sweet curd. If you’re making these scones as a stand-alone recipe, I recommend increasing the sugar to 4 tablespoons.
Blood Orange Curd
Ingredients
- 5 large eggs
- 6 large egg yolks
- 13 ounces (1 3/4 cup) sugar
- 1 1/2 ounces cornstarch
- 1 3/4 cups blood orange juice, plus more as needed
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 7 1/2 ounces butter, room temperature
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk eggs, egg yolks and sugar together until smooth. Whisk the corn starch together with a bit of the blood orange juice to create a slurry.
- Whisk the blood orange juice, the lemon juice and the slurry into the egg mixture.
- Continue to whisk over medium heat until thick, 10-15 minutes. It should be the consistency of pudding. Make sure the whisk hits the bottom of the pot to keep the bottom from burning. This is less likely to happen if you use a heavy bottom saucepan.
- Over low heat, slowly whisk in pieces of the butter.
- Move the curd to a bowl and allow to chill in the refrigerator. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Once cool, whisk in the additional 1/4 cup of blood orange juice if desired for flavor or to thin out the curd.
- Store extra curd in the refrigerator with plastic wrap pushed directly against the curd to prevent a skin from forming.
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
Buttermilk Scones
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
- 1 ounce (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted, for brushing
- 2 tablespoons sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the cold butter pieces and, using your fingers, a pastry blender or a bench scraper, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. It's fine to leave a few larger pearls of butter in the mix; they'll add to the scones' flakiness.
- Add the buttermilk and zest to the bowl and use a fork to mix the ingredients until they are just combined. The dough will look soft and rough.
- Gather the dough into a ball and place it on a lightly floured surface. Kneed it for a dozen turns. Cut the dough in half.
- Roll out one piece of the dough into a circle that's around 1/2 an inch thick and 7 inches wide. Brush generously with butter and sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar on top. Cut the circle into 6 triangles and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Repeat with the second half of the dough.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until both the tops and bottoms are golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
Uhh, I’m drooling. I’ve actually never had blood oranges before but have heard so many yummy things about them (including this) and am so intrigued by their fancy red color that I need to try them stat. And I love lemon curd so blood orange curd sounds right up my alley. Blood orange curd cookies, perhaps? Awesome stuff!
Oh this looks great! And I have a bag of blood oranges… which means enough oranges to make your delicious looking curd and the cupcakes from A Sweeter Thing Thanks for the inspiration!!
Your food photography is amazing… the recipes just add to it :)
I used to love lemon curd when I was younger and never know you could make other types of curd. Great pics as always!
What a fabulous way to use blood oranges! They are so under-rated, but their taste is divine! We will have to try these at one of next tea parties!
Wonderful! I plan on using these for a baby shower we are throwing this spring. Thank you.
Buttermilk Scones sound so delicious! I have to try them.
wow heavenly afternoon tea
This is lovely! I’m a fan of having tea with the ladies, and the buttermilk scones and curd are a perfect treat. Your photo is gorgeous as well.
I love your blog!!
This looks like a great weekend brunch treat! Love the idea of using blood orange juice to make a curd! Delightful!
Can I add blueberries or raspberries to the scone recipe?
I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Go for it.