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Spring

Rhubarb Curd

May 30, 2021 by Alexandra Daum
Rhubarb curd is a beautiful pink spring preserve, perfect for toast, ice cream, and adding to baking. This version uses honey instead of sugar, and whole eggs.
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A jar of preserves with a spoon in front and roses around.

Rhubarb curd is a beautiful pink spring preserve, perfect for toast, ice cream, and adding to baking. This version uses honey instead of sugar, and whole eggs.

A jar of preserves with a spoon in front and roses around.

While you might be more familiar with lemon curd, rhubarb curd is just as good, and a great way to use the early spring produce. Rhubarb is deliciously sour and works just as well with the sweet and creamy elements of a curd.

If you’ve never had it before, it’s almost like an ultra-flavourful pudding or custard, with a similar texture. Add to cakes, cookies, and any other baking, or try it topping porridge or other simple sweets.

Using honey gives a wonderful depth of flavour, and since this recipe uses less sweetener than would be typical, it’s also a less cloying and more enjoyable on its own.

A jar of curd with roses and baby's breath.

Ingredients

  • Rhubarb: if your rhubarb isn’t pink, you can use the beet method outlined in this rhubarb compote recipe.
  • Honey: my sweetener of choice. Use sugar in a pinch, but not maple syrup.
  • Whole Eggs: no leftover egg whites!
  • Lemon: adds some much needed acidity and prevents the rhubarb sticking to the pan while cooking.
  • Vanilla: use powder for speckled curd, or extract.
  • Coconut Oil: use refined to avoid any slight coconut flavour.
Rhubarb Curd ingredients.

Notes and Substitutions

Use a good vegan butter as a 1:1 substitute for the coconut oil if preferred. If dairy isn’t an issue, you can also sub regular dairy butter.

If you have green rhubarb and no beets on hand, pop a small handful of raspberries into the pot when cooking the rhubarb. It’ll improve the colour and barely change the flavour.

For late season rhubarb, either peel the thin outer layer to avoid stringiness, or blend the cooked rhubarb mixture before adding the coconut oil.

It is necessary to stir constantly when making any curd, and cook over very low heat. It’s similar to a custard in that if it gets too hot, the eggs will scramble. Take your time.

I don’t recommend canning this. If you’d like to preserve your rhubarb curd, simply freeze it in a sealed container.

There is a bit of texture present as the rhubarb doesn’t break down entirely during cooking. If you prefer it to be completely smooth, blend with an immersion blender or cool and blender with a small mixer.

More Spring Rhubarb Recipes

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
Rhubarb Ice Cream
Lemon Rhubarb Cake
Rhubarb Banana Muffins
Maple Rhubarb Jam

Top down view of jarred curd with a spoon in the jar and flowers around.

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Rhubarb Curd

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
5 from 6 votes

Ingredients

Metric – American
  • 110 grams honey
  • 2 large eggs
  • 200 grams rhubarb, roughly chopped
  • Juice of a lemon ~3 tbsp
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract OR ½ teaspoon vanilla powder
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil*

Instructions

  • Whisk honey and eggs until combined in a heat-safe bowl.
  • Cook the rhubarb with the lemon juice and vanilla in a small covered pot over medium heat until very soft, about eight minutes.
  • Slowly pour the cooked rhubarb into the honey and egg mixture, whisking, until fully incorporated.
  • Pour the mixture back into the pot and cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly, for eight to ten minutes or until thickened. It should coat the back of a wooden spoon when ready. Don’t increase the heat, you will get scrambled eggs.
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut oil. For a very smooth curd, blend with an immersion blender or in a heat-safe mixer.
  • Pour the finished rhubarb curd into jars and cover. Cool completely and store in the refrigerator for a week or two.

Notes

* Sub a good dairy-free butter (or dairy, if you prefer) in place of the coconut oil.

* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.


Nutrition

Serving: 20g Calories: 70kcal Carbohydrates: 7g Protein: 1g Fat: 4g Saturated Fat: 3g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 25mg Sodium: 12mg Sugar: 6g

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

© Alexandra Daum
Course: Dips and Sauces
Cuisine: British
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This post was originally published in June 2015. It has been updated most recently as of May 2021.

More Spring:

Top down view of glass jar with lilac syrup and blossoms.Honey Lilac Syrup
Two small glass bottles of elderflower cordial lying in several elderflower heads.Honey Elderflower Cordial
Two pieces of cake on a plate with wildflowers around.Healthy Rhubarb Recipes for Spring
Flat leaf parsley growing in a garden.Easy Parsley Substitutes

Previous Post: « Strawberry Milk
Next Post: Vegan Spelt Naan »

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Comments

  1. Rebecca says

    June 14, 2022 at 12:07 am

    I ended up with a bunch of rhubarb- which I’ve never used before! A quick google search brought me here, and holy goodness is this DELICIOUS. Excited to try more of your recipes.

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      June 15, 2022 at 8:42 am

      So glad you liked it, thanks Rebecca!

      Reply
  2. Susan J Berke says

    August 8, 2019 at 8:46 pm

    This would be a lovely gift – what directions would have have to can it? I’m thinking maybe a water bath for 10 minutes?

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      August 9, 2019 at 7:07 am

      I would do a 10 minute water bath, yes. That being said, this recipe lacks the acidity or high sugar content to make it shelf stable for a long period of time and would have to be observed or kept in the refrigerator after canning to keep it from spoiling. If you want to gift it in the winter, for example, I’d can it and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to give it away. I hope that helps!

      Reply
  3. Nicholas Sung says

    July 27, 2019 at 12:53 pm

    5 stars
    I made this this morning and it came out wonderfully. Even better than I thought it would. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.

    Reply
  4. Nicholas Sung says

    July 27, 2019 at 12:53 pm

    5 stars
    I made this this morning and it came out wonderfully. Even better than I thought it would. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.

    Reply
  5. Alexandra says

    September 14, 2016 at 5:57 am

    Hi Lydia! Goodness, this recipe isn't particularly vegan friendly, is it? I'm afraid that rhubarb isn't available where I am right now, but I can recommend using this recipe as a base: http://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-lemon-curd/ and keeping the 1/4 cup lemon juice like in this recipe. So you'd leave out the coconut oil and eggs from this recipe and add the coconut milk and arrowroot instead. I've been meaning to work on a vegan curd recipe with agar for a long time, because I think that might work well, but I haven't tested it yet. I hope the adaptation goes well and your guests love it!

    Reply
  6. Lydia says

    September 14, 2016 at 5:35 am

    What can I substitute for the eggs? This sounds perfect for an upcoming party but some of my guests will be vegan and eggs are a no-go…

    Reply

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