Name: Banana & Honey Curd
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 200 grams mashed bananas (about 2-3 bananas (weighted after you peel them)); 70 grams honey; 50 grams unsalted butter; 3 egg yolks; pinch fine cooking salt; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 teaspoon ground ginger powder (optional or cinnamon or nutmeg)

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My Banana & Honey Curd Recipe is made with bananas and honey with a hint of ginger and lemon juice. Deliciously smooth, buttery and lower in sugar than other fruit curds. Perfect on toast, pancakes, breakfast granola or porridge, as a tart or cake fillings or topping for your favourite pudding.

Homemade banana curd makes a lovely change to the traditional lemon curd and since you can’t readily buy it in any shops, it makes it pretty special too.

It’s a great recipe for using up ripened bananas if you have too many.

Why make this recipe?

Easy to make
Healthier than other fruit curds as it uses honey instead of processed sugar
Amazing taste – comforting, smooth, buttery, banana taste!
Great as a gift for your family and friends

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What exactly is banana curd and how to use it

Banana curd is a variation of lemon curd. It has nothing to do with cheese or curd, but it’s made with fresh fruit, sugar, butter and eggs.

It’s a sort of sweet condiment or preserve, which can be used in the same way as marmalades or jams for toast, croissants or bread rolls in the morning.

You can also use banana curd as a filling for various fruit tarts and for baking.

My top tips on making banana curd recipe successfully first time round

Don’t rush the stirring and thickening of the banana curd. It will happen eventually, but you don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs.

Add lemon juice to the banana mixture as this will help to bring out the banana flavour.

Use egg yolks only – I’ve made this recipe with egg yolks only and it does make a difference in how easily the curd thickens and how it makes the curd creamier.

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The question of using whole eggs versus egg yolks in banana curd

Over the years, I’ve made quite a few batches of different fruit curds with whole eggs and with egg yolks only and there are benefits of both methods.

Whole eggs curd method

No wastage – use whole eggs for the recipe
Could taste a bit ‘eggy’ and rubbery (because of the egg white)
Easy to get scrambled when you overheat the mixture
Some people are allergic to egg whites

Egg yolks curd method

More creamy & smooth texture, flavour and finish
Less prone to curdling when heated up

If you see any recipe with whole eggs and you want to replace them with just egg yolks, you should double the number of eggs.

Leftover egg whites are perfect for making simple white egg omelettes, adding to a cake batter, keeping for later to use as an egg wash instead of other alternatives, making traditional yeasted pancakes or homemade marshmallows or meringues.

What makes this recipe work

Using egg yolks only, adding lemon, salt and ground ginger turns this recipe from a mashed banana into decadent banana curd.

Any specialist equipment needed?

Medium size saucepan
Bowl (glass) to fit inside/above your saucepan
Fine sieve
1 larger jam jar

Pro tip

Make sure that you heat the banana curd mixture over very low heat and that your mixing bowl doesn’t touch the water. Keep checking the level of water too; to ensure that you have enough under your bowl.

Stir your banana curd mixture steadily, but don’t go too fast. If you stir it too much over a very hot heat, you’ll end up with scrambled eggs!

Ingredients & Possible Substitutions

Banana

It’s best to use ripen soft bananas to get the most flavour. I prefer to use organic bananas, but I’ve also made this recipe from non-organic bananas and the flavour was good too.

More recipes with bananas

Butter

Unsalted butter is best for this recipe, but you can use a part salted and part unsalted butter as well. Make sure that if you use salted butter you don’t add more salt to the recipe.

For the traditional banana curd recipe, I use regular dairy butter because it has the best flavour.

Honey

Instead of regular white sugar, I decided to use honey with this Banana & Honey Recipe. The flavour works great and depending on what type of honey you use, you can achieve really lovely flavour combinations.

I’ve used a not too fragrant type of honey, so that I don’t over power the subtle banana flavour.

If you don’t have honey or don’t want to use it, you can also use agave syrup or just regular sugar.

You can also play with the flavour a little and for example, use light brown sugar with the bananas and add brandy or rum to round up the flavour.

I still probably wouldn’t recommend using any very dark brown or too flavoured sugars such as coconut sugar or its alternatives as it would change the flavour of the banana curd too much and the sugar would also spoil the colour.

Eggs

The fresher the eggs you use the better, because they will emulsify better.

I usually use medium to large size eggs, but over the years I’ve probably used mixed sizes too. It’s just a matter of simmering the curd for a bit longer if you need to towards the end of the cooking process if the mixture is too liquidy.

Cinnamon, Ginger or other spice

This is completely optional, but I can’t help adding in at least ground ginger or mixed spice.

You could also add in ground cinnamon or ground mace, nutmeg or a tiny pinch of cloves. All of these spices will help to bring out the banana flavour.

Lemon Juice

Banana flavour can be potentially quite bland if left on its own. Lemon juice will help to sharpen the flavour and help to make the curd taste like a banana.

Salt

Salt is totally optional, but I think it helps to balance out the flavours and helps to sharpen the banana flavour.

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The method – How to make banana curd

Peel and mash the bananas. You should have about 200 grams or 1 whole cup of mashed bananas to start.

Add about 1 inch or 2 cm of water to a medium-size saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over a low to medium heat on your hob.

Add the bananas, butter, honey, lemon juice, ginger powder and a pinch of salt to a suitable mixing bowl.

Place the bowl over the saucepan and let the butter melt into the banana mixture.

Separate 3 eggs into egg whites and egg yolks.

Once the butter has dissolved, lower the heat and slowly add the eggs yolks to the banana mixture.

Carry on stirring the banana curd mixture, ensuring that the heat is very low and that the water doesn’t boil (only simmers).

Stir gently for another 15 minutes or until the mixture thickens into a custard consistency.

Taste and add more lemon juice, salt, ginger or cinnamon or other spices to get your desired flavour.

To achieve a smooth banana curd, pour and press the hot mixture through a fine sieve.

Pour carefully into a prepared glass or other suitable containers.

Keep in a refrigerator and use within 2-3 weeks.

How else you can make this recipe?

Banana Curd – use white sugar instead of honey, add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, leave out the ginger and add less lemon juice
Dark Banana & Rum Curd – use brown sugar instead of honey, leave out the ground ginger, add 2 tablespoons (or to taste) of rum at the end of the cooking process.

Allergies, dietary requirements

This recipe contains eggs and although we have cooked them, this recipe might not be suitable for anyone who is avoiding fresh (raw) eggs.

This recipe is not suitable for vegan diets and it’s not dairy free as it contains butter.

Gluten free

Banana curd goes great with these recipes

Batch Size

This recipe makes 1 larger sized jam jar. I purposely made this recipe on a smaller size because curds have a shorter shelf life and unless you want to give some away, they are not going to last very long.

I scale up or down this recipe?

Technically you could scale down this recipe by halving all the ingredients, but since this recipe makes only 1 jam jar, I think it’s pretty budget-friendly already.

If you fancy making more of this delicious banana curd, you can easily double the quantity of the ingredients in the recipe and make more!

You have to make sure that you get a large saucepan and larger mixing bowl. The simmering time might not be much longer than the standard recipe as the saucepan/bowl/heat will increase with the recipe. Saying that, the timings can vary once you start adjusting the ratio of the ingredients.

How to store banana curd

Store in an airtight container (jam jar or similar) in the fridge for up to 2-3 weeks (or up to 1-2 months if alcohol is added). Once opened, eat within 7-10 days.

You can also freeze banana curd by cooling it down completely and then placing it into a strong freezer bag (that can expand if needed) or plastic container with a sturdy lid. You can keep the banana curd frozen for 1-3 months, then defrost it and use it straight away (whilst storing it in the fridge).

Banana curd shelf life

2-3 weeks unopened in the fridge

7-10 days once opened

1-3 months frozen

1-2 months unopened in the fridge (with alcohol)