{vegan} Grapefruit Curd

If you've been a longtime reader of the blog, you will probably recall my love of farmers markets. Hell, I even wrote an article about it in this issue of Chickpea Magazine. Before I moved back to Houston, and when I was still running the baking side of Sweet Miscellany, I would sell at (and by default attend) pretty much every farmers market in my little town. It became a Saturday morning ritual that required getting up at the ass crack of dawn while most other people were sound asleep. Since I was a vendor, I had the privilege of seeing what the farmers brought before any of the customers. I could spend 20 minutes on a discussion about fairytale eggplant or Santa Rosa plums and think nothing of it. I really miss those days and I especially miss that sense of community.

There are farmers markets aplenty here in the Houston area, but it wasn't until this past weekend that I was actually able to go to one. I know, I know. How horrible. But, to be fair, pretty much all of my Saturday mornings have been taken over by work, family stuff, or travel. And, it doesn't help that my Whole Foods carries a good deal of Texas produce. When I saw that I had both Saturday and Sunday off from work (!!) last weekend, I made it a point to go to Urban Harvest's Eastside Farmers Market on Saturday morning.

I'm pretty sure I walked around the whole thing five times and honestly, I probably could have kept doing it all day. It was nice to be back in that atmosphere and see all of the lovely local goods. Since we have a really long growing season down here, this market goes on year round. I was pleasantly surprised to see a wide variety of greens, root veggies, citrus fruits, and even some strawberries!

All of the citrus fruit inspired me to try my hand at a vegan curd and since I love our own Texas ruby reds, it ended up becoming grapefruit curd. Since we are in the tail end of citrus season, I strongly encourage you to seek out some local fruit if you can and test out this recipe. It won't be the same as conventional curd as the texture is more like pudding but it is certainly delicious. If I had the time, I was going to make coconut macaroon thumbprints and then fill them with the curd. Maybe I'll do that around Easter :)  The curd is pretty versatile, but here's a few ways to enjoy it: swirled in your favorite yogurt, spread on a scone or biscuit, swirled into oatmeal, in between the layers of a cake, etc. etc.

Vegan Grapefruit Curd
** note - A high speed blender will ensure the smoothest consistency. Recipe adapted from here. 

2/3 cup freshly squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice

juice of 1 small meyer lemon (or regular lemon)

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 2 hours

1/3 cup raw agave

1/3 cup coconut milk plus 1 tbsp (divided)

1 tbsp arrowroot

zest of 1 large grapefruit

Drain the cashews and rinse them off. In a high speed blender, combine the grapefruit juice, lemon juice, soaked cashews, agave, and 1/3 cup of the coconut milk. Blend until smooth and liquefied. Pour this mixture into a pan and gently bring it to a low boil, whisking often. Once you start to see it bubble, Turn the heat down to low. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the arrowroot and 1 tbsp of coconut milk. Add this to the curd mixture and whisk well until it starts to thicken. Once it thickens immediately remove it from the heat and whisk in the grapefruit zest. Pour the mixture into a jar and cool completely in the fridge before eating. Makes about 2 cups of curd.