Some things belong together.
Bacon and eggs.
Peas and carrots.
Peanut butter and jelly honey.
Strawberry and kiwi.
You know it’s true.
As a recent curd-convert I started to wonder if I could throw in other fruits. I’ve seen mango curd, passion fruit, other citrus. But I’ll admit I’ve never seen a kiwi curd.
It always makes me nervous when a google search for a recipe idea yields practically nothing. I wonder, is the fact that no one has done this before mean it’s just not doable?
And after my first failed attempt at kiwi curd, I was beginning to think that was the case. There was talk of phantom enzymes in kiwis that resulted in odd flavors or soupy textures (and apparently, an enzyme does exist in both pineapple and kiwi that will not set in gelatin—in case you were wondering why there has never been a kiwi jello).
That first batch, in addition to being a soupy mess, also tasted like the inside of a tin can, despite the fact that it did not touch a spec of metal (I cooked it in a glass bowl with a silicone whisk). I think I’ve pinpointed the culprit as a particular type of lemon, as we had a batch of hollandaise come out tasting equally metallic.
My second batch, luckily, was more fortunate. Increasing the proportions of egg to kiwi helped the curd thicken beautifully, and switching to the sweeter Meyer lemon eliminated any residual metallic taste.
I’ll admit – the curd does not taste much like kiwi. It wouldn’t have even been that green if I didn’t add one drop of green food coloring to it (call me a cheater if you will, but I wanted lime green curd, gosh darnit!)
However, strong kiwi flavor or not, when poured inside a tangy lemon shortbread crust and topped with slices of perfectly ripe strawberry, it makes for a tart and refreshing—and visually stunning—dessert. Fruit and lemon lovers rejoice—this is the dessert for you.
Me? I’ll stick to chocolate for now.
Strawberry Kiwi Tartlets
Ingredients:
For Crust:
- 7 ounces lemon shortbread cookies or vanilla cookies
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
For Kiwi Curd:
- 3/4 cup kiwi puree (from 3-4 kiwis)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons meyer lemon juice
- 3 eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- green food coloring, optional
- strawberries, for garnish
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- In a food processor, pulse cookies until very finely ground. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of crumbs. Add melted butter and sugar and pulse until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture into six small (3 3/4-inch) tartlet pans or one 9-inch tart pan. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly golden. If crust has puffed, carefully press bottom back into place using a spoon or flat-bottomed glass. Cool completely.
- For kiwi curd, strain kiwi puree through a fine mesh sieve. Reserve seeds and set aside. Combine puree with sugar and lemon juice in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Beat eggs together with egg yolks, then add to kiwi mixture. Add butter and stir over medium-low heat until butter is melted and curd thickens, about 10 to 15 minutes. Do not let it boil. Add one drop of green food coloring, if desired for a more vibrant color. Press curd through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps or cooked egg bits. If desired, add kiwi seeds back to curd, stirring until evenly distributed.
- Divided curd among prepared crusts; refrigerate until set, at least 1 to 2 hours. Top with strawberry slices.
Did you make this recipe?
Let us know what you think!
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Great recipe made it last night with Kiwi’s which were almost overripe. Insane, delightful kiwi taste, used regular lemon and it was great.
thank You so much for the Yummy recipe I loved it honestly
I almost never leave comments on blogs like this, but if you are reading this 8 year old recipe STAY AWAY! This came out tasting gross. The kiwi mixture before the eggs tasted great, but after leaves something to be desired.
There has never been a desert I couldn’t finish but this is the first. Sorry lindsay, I’m sure you cook great and your other recipes are fine, but this one was a miss.
Thanks for gorgeous recipe. Out of curiosity, Why not cook the curd with the kiwi seeds and then add them back? Will it affect my curd if i leave them?…
I always like to strain my curd to remove any bits of cooked egg. In which case the seeds would get strained out too.
Stunning! Can I replace the strawberry in place of kiwi?
You know, I think you definitely could! You may need to adjust the sugar as strawberries can be much sweeter than kiwis, but I think it’d work just fine!
This recipe is absolutely scrumptious!! I didn’t strain the seeds, but instead, tempered the eggs. I heated everything else on the stove while I whisking the eggs, then added scoop by scoop into the eggs, whisking after each addition, until it was all added. Then, I returned it to the stovetop and heated until thickened. It came out perfectly!! I also made mini pies, in a mini cupcake pan, and may or may not have finished the remaining filling with a spoon. ?????? Thank you so much for the recipe!
Good recipe but I would have to change a thing or two next time…
The curd tasted very well, although I needed 3 more egg yolks as described.
But fortunately I didn’t have any metallic taste to it.
Problem: I couldn’t get my crust out of the pans. So I had to leave the whole tart inside the pan ;-( Next time I would probably take a little less sugar, I would leave out the sugar in the crust and probably cut the sugar in the curd in half.
I think the whole tart definitely needs the food coloring!
All in all thanks for the recipe idea.
It’s like a miracle….
I just made these and they are great and look great too. But my puree didn’t come out as expected! The seeds from the kiwi got puréed as well and left a bit of a funky taste. I didn’t make the tart shell I made a sugar cookie cup using the bottom of a 24 mini cupcake pan. I cook for my grandpa who lives alone now since we lost my grandma and I try to find sweets that don’t have chocolate to bring him and these were a hit! Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Thanks for gorgeous recipe. Out of curiosity, Why not cook the curd with the kiwi seeds and then add them back? Will it affect my curd if i leave them?
I like to strain the curd after cooking to remove any lumps (bits of cooked egg and the like), and that straining also removes the seeds. Hence the extra step. But if you think you can cook the curd smoothly without any lumps, leaving the seeds in won’t hurt it.
wow! love the curd. It is so rare to find a good kiwi recipe. Thanks for sharing the experience..
Mirela @ LoveAffair