Lemon curd, such as my favorite – Easy Peasy Lemon Curd, is only the beginning of a vast array of curd possibilities. I happen to be a huge fan of bananas. So it only made sense to create Banana Curd! Similar to lemon curd, Banana Curd is a silky-smooth cooked delight of butter, sugar, eggs, and of course it’s namesake – bananas – rather than lemons. And just like lemon curd, it’s a fantastic spread to elevate simple slice of toast or a scone, or as filling for tarts, cakes, or exquisitely unique pavlovas. Follow your tastebuds and use your imagination!
Ingredients
- Very Ripe Bananas – Ripe bananas are not only easier to mash than yellow or green bananas, but are also sweeter and jam-packed with banana flavor. Of course, over-ripe bananas aren’t available at the store (usually…) and having them on hand when you need them can be quite a trick. Check out this post on freezing over-ripe bananas so you’ll never throw away another “past-its-prime” banana and you’ll always have over-ripe bananas in your kitchen for cooking, baking, and… smoothy-ing!
- Butter – As usual, butter brings flavor! It also brings silky-smooth texture and becomes a thickener when refrigerated.
- Brown Sugar – Brown sugar, as opposed to granulated sugar, adds a deeper, almost caramel-like flavor that compliments bananas nicely.
- Cornstarch – Cornstarch thickens Banana Curd. If you’re looking for a thinner consistency to drizzle over cheesecake or ice cream, feel free to leave it out. But a little cornstarch creates the perfect consistency to fill tarts and pavlovas.
- Eggs/Yolks – Eggs and yolks bring richness, smoothness, and thickness.
- Salt – A pinch of salt enhances the curd’s rich, banana flavor.
Achieving the Texture
Silky-smooth texture is the hallmark of a perfect curd. Egg yolks and butter help to achieve this perfection. But a blender is a must have to finish the job of creating a perfect Banana Curd. The easiest, quickest way to blend is an immersion blender. Although the job can be done with a traditional blender, that involves the cumbersome work of transferring the mixture- twice. Also, I know I’ve saved myself numerous burns and multiple ER visits by pureeing soups with an immersion blender directly in the pot instead of transferring my piping hot dinner to and from a traditional blender. Immersion blender = must have!
Banana Curd
Ingredients
- 1 cup +2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 9 tablespoons butter
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 3 eggs
- 5 egg yolks
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine sugar and cornstarch (so that the cornstarch is evenly distributed in the sugar and will not clump when liquid is added).
- Melt butter in a saucepan. If using an immersion blender/stick blender, add all ingredients to the butter, taking care not to cook the eggs if the butter is hot. Pulverize until smooth.If using a traditional blender, add all ingredients to the blender and pulverize. Then transfer the mixture to a saucepan.
- Cook over medium low heat until thickened, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir occasionally during the cooling process to prevent a skin from forming (or place plastic wrap on the surface of the mixture as it cools).
- Refrigerate. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.
