Citrus curds are simple and straightforward to make. You just need some sugar, a lot of egg yolks and the desire to present an impressive creamy dessert. This Fresh Peach Curd was a perfect pairing for some Basil Sugar Whipped Cream.
Curds. Creamy, zesty, buttery, not too sweet. A perfect dessert in my books. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but that beautiful, luscious, custard-like filling certainly would welcome any decadent topping idea that you can come up with.
But what exactly is a curd? It’s a custard of sorts, one that’s stirred, it doesn’t have any cream or milk, it contains a sugar, butter and lots of egg yolks. And it’s absolutely special.
Curds have been made famous by lemons, but I decided to substitute and use some of my Colorado Western Slope Peaches. We count the days until Colorado peach season arrives. They’re a very special treat.
About Palisade Peaches
Palisade Peaches are famously grown on our Western slope, in and around the town of Palisade. Colorado peaches are known for being extra juicy and extra sweet, thanks to the long sunny hot days and cool Colorado Summer nights. That equals perfect conditions for fruity sugars to develop. To learn more about what makes a Colorado Peach so special, check out this article about Colorado Western Slope Peaches.
For this peach curd, I kept it pretty simple. A homemade Pate Brisee pasty crust filled with a simple curd of pureed fresh peaches, butter and a little lemon zest. Basil and peach are great partners, so I topped the tart with basil sugar whipped cream.
Using a tart pan instead of a pie pan makes this elegant in appearance. Out of the blue, I’ve become obsessed with everything about tarts. Savory or sweet, their charm, their shape and the thinner structure than what a pie dish offers has me smitten.
Recipe For Peach Curd Tart
Chef’s Tip: Once the butter is incorporated, always strain curd. This will give you a perfectly creamy smooth texture.
More Fruit Tart Recipes
- Lemon Tart Recipe with Sour Cream Celebrate citrus and fall in love with the combination of lemon and sour cream.
- Strawberry Tart Recipe with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling This is easy to make and a perfect dessert for fresh strawberry season.
- French Pear Tart Bourdaloue French Pear Tart with apricot rum glaze for a finishing touch of color and pure delightful flavor. Impress with this beautiful dessert.
And if you’re looking for more dessert recipes, don’t miss my Dessert Category. You’ll find lots of sweet treat recipes. Including the most popular dessert recipe on my site for Cherry Delight, Cream Cheese Cherry Dessert.
Beautifully delicious in all of its simplicity, let’s take a look:
Peach Curd Tart with Basil Sugar Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 5.25 ounces Unsalted Butter
- 4.5 ounces Sugar
- 4.5 ounces Peaches peeled, pitted and pureed
- Zest from ½ of a lemon
- 4.5 ounces Egg Yolks
- 1 Pie Crust
- 8 ounces Whipping Cream
- ¼ cup Confectioner’s Sugar
- 4-5 leaves fresh basil
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients and equipment. Using a kitchen scale, scale all ingredients.
- Combine ½ of the butter and half of the sugar, pureed peaches and lemon zest and bring to a boil, stirring gently.
- Whisk yolks with the remaining sugar. Temper ⅓ of the hot mixture into the yolks and sugar mixture, while whisking. Then add this mixture back into the saucepan.
- Continue cooking, stirring constantly with the whisk, until mixture comes to a boil. Whisk in the remaining butter.
- Strain the thickened curd into a bowl using a fine mesh sieve. Place plastic wrap on top of the curd and refrigerate.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the pie crust into a 9 inch tart pan. Dock the dough with a fork. At this point you’re going to blind bake the crust. Place parchment paper over the dough and fill the parchment paper with dried beans. (This will keep the pie crust from bubbling up) Bake for 15 minutes. Remove parchment and beans, lower heat to 350 and bake a few more minutes, or until pie crust is just turning golden.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
- In the meantime make the whipped cream. In a mixer beat the cream on high until it thickens into whipped cream. In a food processor, mix the confectioner’s sugar and the fresh basil. Add the sugar mixture to the whipped cream and mix on low until blended. Taste and adjust flavors. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- With a spatula spread the peach curd onto the tart. Garnish with fresh peach slices and a dollop of the Basil Sugar Whipped Cream.
Nutrition
Peach Curd Tart with Basil Sugar Whipped Cream … It’s what’s for Dessert
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
I made just the peach curd part of the recipe twice now and it’s delicious! We’ve been putting it on and in anything we can think of (yogurt, angel food cake, blueberries, toast, etc). I’ve made lemon curd before to varying successes, but this recipe was so easy and came out perfectly creamy and smooth – no egg chunks!
Hi! Does the curd set reasonably solid? Like will it keep its form if I cut a slice?
Sounds really good and I intend on making – I love fresh peaches. But 4.5 ounces of fresh peaches and when do you add them. Thanks.
I wasn’t up for making a tart to take to a dinner party so decided to make this basil whipped cream paired with grilled peaches. ?
I’m with you – I love pretty tarts! This peach curd (PEACH CURD…YUM!) tart is calling my name, and that basil sugar whipped cream is just the perfect thing to top such a lovely dessert!
Peach Curd sounds delicious and that whipped cream sounds intriguing!
The finished tart and the crust both sound very good and I love learning from your cooking school. We have to try your crust recipe as I was spoiled as a child – my mom made outstanding pie crusts.
That is so beautiful! I need to try this before the peaches are all gone!