Blood Orange Curd Bars

Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients

For the Crust:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
1½ cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt

For the Curd:

2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
6 eggs, beaten
2 egg yolks, beaten
zest of 3 blood oranges
1¼ cups blood orange juice*
1 stick of unsalted butter cut into cubes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 baking pan with two criss-crossed pieces of parchment paper (so that the edges hang over allowing you to lift the whole thing out.

For the Crust:

Melt the butter, stir in the sugar until dissolved. Then add the flour and salt and stir until it comes together. Press the dough into the pan, using your fingers to distribute it evenly into the pan.
Bake the crust for about 30 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
In a heat-proof bowl, stir together the cornstarch, sugar and salt, Whisk in the blood orange juice, zest, egg yolks and eggs until smooth and well-combined.
Place the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water. (Baking a double boiler of sorts,) and whisk the mixture constantly for 5-7 minutes, until it thickens and bubbles like lava. Stir in the butter chunks a couple at a time until they melt.
As soon as the crust comes out of the oven, pour the curd in and bake for an additional 15 minutes to set the filling.
Allow bars to cool completely at room temperature and then cover and chill overnight. Serve cold with an optional dusting of powdered sugar.

Notes

A couple things:

1- My bright and beautiful blood orange juice faded so much during the cooking stage that I chose to add a few drops of food coloring to brighten in up. This is optional obviously.

2-The original recipe suggests straining the curd through a sieve to strain out the zest and any lumps that may have formed. I skipped this step and we were still thrilled with the results, but a smoother filling may have resulted if I had done so.

Recipe by The Baker Chick at https://www.thebakerchick.com/blood-orange-curd-bars/