Grapefruit Dessert

As I was researching fresh fruit desserts this morning, I was surprised to find that the grapefruit is highly neglected.  We grew up having grapefruit halves for breakfast all the time and now that I'm temporarily spending time at my sister's apartment I see that the breakfast tradition has passed on to the next generation.  Consequently, there are many many grapefruits here--partially thanks to the season and partially thanks to Costco bulk buying.  Having somewhat of a soft-spot for these dessert worthy fruits I spent all morning thinking of numerous ways to include grapefruit in a dessert.  The winner--for today at least--was a light and refreshing spooned dessert with such a unique flavor it almost danced in my mouth the moment I tried it.

Grapefruit Curd

Looks delicious does it not?  This is what I did.  Since grapefruit is a citrus, I decided to make a grapefruit curd.  It didn't take much sugar to off-set the tartness of the fruit.  The pale ruby color of the grapefruit juice was lost when mixed with the yolks but the curd, in the end, had a slight pinkish hue--a stark difference from the vibrant color of traditional lemon curd.  I added some ginger and extra citrus to enhance the flavor.  I also included a little bit of butter in the formula to add to the silkiness of the curd which created a very smooth mouth-feel.  I dished the curd into little glasses and allowed the curd to set in the fridge.  While the curd-filled glasses chilled, I made a Tahitian vanilla Chantilly cream (Penny and Sam brought home some pretty incredible vanilla from their honeymoon to Tahiti).  I topped the curd with the cream and garnished the dessert with some plums.  I know it seems like an odd pairing, but I must say that combination is quite divine--the plum adding a hint of tart back into the overall experience.  Well, needless to say it was a fun morning of experimentation; and now I can boast that I've created a fine dessert using none other than the underestimated grapefruit.  Contact me if you want the recipe.