Apricot and Ginger Curd

For this month's Foodie Blogroll Joust the nominated ingredients were apricots, ginger and butter. I decided to make a fruit curd, with layers of different forms of apricot and ginger so I started from this recipe and then went my own way.

Apricot and Ginger Curd (makes about 750ml)

10 dried apricots ~ roughly chopped
10 fresh apricots (about 400g) ~ washed, stoned and quartered
1 medium bramley apple ~ peeled, cored and chopped
2 tbs lemon juice
50ml green ginger wine
120g caster sugar
120g butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 knobs of stem ginger ~ sliced into julienne

Combine the dried and fresh apricots, apple, lemon juice, ginger wine and sugar in a pan and cook gently over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit is collapsing to fluff. Cool, then process until quite smooth. Place in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and add the eggs and butter, cut into cubes, and the stem ginger. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened (but before the eggs scramble). Pot while still hot into sterilised jars.

This doesn't have as much sugar or acid in it as a lemon curd, so it'll last a couple of weeks in the fridge but not that long.

Once you have your pot of curd, you can eat it on toast or scones , or you can layer it with Greek yogurt and crumbled ginger biscuits for a really easy dessert, or you can use it as the main flavouring for an absolutely killer cheesecake. I am really pleased how the cheesecake turned out actually, smooth and rich and perfectly tangy.

Apricot and Ginger Cheesecake

Crumb crust made from 1 packet oatmeal biscuits, 100g ground almonds, 1/2 tsp ground ginger and about 75g melted butter, pressed into base and sides of 10" springform caketin.

450g cream cheese
2tbs plain flour
3tbs caster sugar
250ml apricot and ginger curd ~ plus extra for glazing
2 eggs ~ beaten

Beat the cream cheese until fluffy, then add the other ingredients and mix well. Pour into crumb crust and bake at 180C for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, spread with a thin layer of extra curd (about 3-4tbs) and return to oven and bake another 20 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to cool slowly.