Mango Curd Recipe: How to Make Mango Curd at Home

Mango curd is a sweet, thick mixture of fresh mango purée, sugar, and egg yolks. While lemon curd and lime curd are more popular, curd can use almost any fruit.

Citrus curd is the most traditional type of curd, owing to how curd cooks. When acidic lemon juice or lime juice combines with the rest of the ingredients, the mixture curdles and almost appears ruined. But the mixture continues cooking at low heat, and, with the addition of butter, gradually comes together until the end product is smooth and no longer curdled.

Mango curd is a versatile ingredient because of its sweetness and smooth texture, making it a good addition to desserts and baked goods in particular. Here are a handful of uses for mango curd:

1. 1. Cake filling: Pipe a border of buttercream around the outside of a layer cake, then fill it in with mango curd—this adds flavor and helps keep the cake layer moist. Alternatively, cut a small hole in the center of a cupcake and fill the hole with mango curd; frost the cupcake as you would normally. Mango curd is also a good filling for French macarons.
2. 2. Pavlova filling: A baked meringue (whipped egg whites and sugar) dessert, a pavlova has a large depression in the center you can fill first with fruit curd, then sweetened whipped cream, and, lastly, ripe mango slices and fresh berries.
3. 3. Cheesecake swirl: Mix mango curd into cheesecake batter. This flavors the cheesecake without adding fruit chunks or a purée, which would add moisture. Curd is thicker and holds its own structure, so it suspends in cheesecake batter and retains its swirl without impacting the original cheesecake texture. For extra mango flavor, top the cheesecake with mango curd, too.
4. 4. Scone spread: Clotted cream and lemon curd are classic spreads for scones, but you can try swapping mango curd for lemon curd. It’s less tart than lemon curd and, therefore, might pair better with certain scone flavor profiles.

Keep these tips in mind when making a mango curd recipe to achieve a smooth and flavorful final product:

• Add more butter and heat to a thin curd. If the curd is too runny at the end of the cooking process, return the saucepan to the stove. Over low heat, add small chunks of unsalted butter, one at a time, stirring constantly, until the curd starts to thicken.
• Cover the surface with plastic wrap. Before chilling or storing mango curd, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd, so a skin doesn’t form on its surface.
• Purée the mango. For a smoother consistency and less waste at the end of the cooking process, use mango purée instead of mango chunks or mango pulp.
• Stir the curd constantly. To prevent the curd from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning as it cooks, stir the mixture continuously.
• Store mango curd properly. It’s advisable to store mango curd in sterilized glass jars in the refrigerator—the curd should be good for about two weeks as long as you don’t open the jars. Alternatively, freeze mango curd in ice cube trays and transfer the cubes to a freezer-safe bag for up to three months. Avoid storing curd at room temperature unless you plan to use it immediately or it’s already in a dessert.
• Use a double boiler. Direct heat can be tricky to work with, especially if you’re making curd for the first time. A simpler alternative is to use a double boiler setup. Add a couple inches of water to a saucepan, then fit a glass bowl inside it. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Bring the water to a boil and cook the curd in the bowl. This might add time to your mango curd recipe, but it will decrease the risk of the curd sticking and burning.