I may have mentioned before that blood oranges are one of my favourite seasonal treats. They remind me of family skiing holidays in the Italian Alps, where they always seemed available earlier than in the UK. In colours ranging from deepest ruby to a delicate blush-red tinge, they are tarter than their standard orange relatives, yet deliciously tangy, sweet and juicy at the same time. I love them for my wake-up breakfast juice and eaten segment by segment, just as they are – grab a tissue as they are definitely more likely to drip down your arm than a normal orange!
In recent years, shops seem to have shied away from the old term “blood orange”, opting instead for blush oranges or ruby orange when used in juice, or even Sanguinello, from their Sicilian name. Why anyone could possibly be offended by the connection with blood, I’m really not sure. Perhaps for the same reason that you never hear talk of oxblood red shoes these days, although they were always my favourites as a little girl growing up in the 1960s… Blood oranges are rich in anthocyanins, which accounts for their dark colouration and superfood status – as if we needed any further excuse to eat them during their oh-so-short season.
Baking/cooking with blood oranges is as rewarding as you might think. Blood orange sorbet is divine, and a cake made with blood oranges, polenta and ground almonds just perfect. I recently threw together a colourful winter salad with blood orange, red cabbage, fennel, rocket, apple and parsley, all set off by a sharply citrussy vinaigrette. Last weekend I even experimented with a delectable recipe for blood orange & coconut panna cotta. They also add another dimension to tray-baked chicken dishes. Heaven on a plate…
My first recipe is one of Jamie Oliver’s, a deliciously succulent orange & polenta cake, perfect for gluten-intolerant visitors (in normal times, of course), as it contains no flour. I’ve tweaked the glaze as blood oranges are often smaller than standard oranges. It was the perfect consistency even though I used less liquid than he recommends.
Blood Orange & Polenta Cake – serves 12
200g butter
200g demerara sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
200g ground almonds
100g polenta
zest of 2 blood oranges (keep the juice for the syrup)
1 tsp orange blossom water
1 tsp baking powder (gluten-free if necessary)
SYRUP
5 cardamom pods, peeled and crushed
zest of 2 blood oranges
200 ml blood orange juice (I used the juice of 5 blood oranges)
2 tsp orange blossom water
125 g vanilla sugar
Toasted coconut flakes (or flaked almonds) to garnish
Preheat the oven to 150°C (fan)/gas mark 3, then grease and base line a 24cm springform cake tin.
Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy. It will look gritty as demerara sugar is very coarse, but it will dissolve when baked! Gradually beat in the eggs, then stir in the vanilla essence, orange zest and orange blossom water. Fold in the ground almonds, polenta and baking powder.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the surface is golden brown, just firm to the touch, and the cake is coming away slightly from the sides of the tin. Remove the tin from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, make the syrup: put the crushed cardamom pods, orange zest, juice, vanilla sugar and orange blossom water into a small pan. Simmer over a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, or until reduced and thickened to a syrupy consistency. Set aside to cool slightly.
Prick the cake all over with a skewer while still in the tin. Place on a plate to catch any juice, then drizzle the syrup evenly all over. Remove from the tin and serve just warm with crème fraiche, whipped cream, or just as it is with a cup of tea and a contented sigh. Keeps well in a cool place for up to a week and is equally good cold.
I’m very partial to panna cotta and when this Sarah Raven recipe came up in my e-mail inbox last week, I just had to try it. I ended up tweaking it quite a bit, as I felt there was far too much gelatine in the original, but I was very happy with the end result. The tray-baked chicken recipe I mentioned is in the same article, should you want to try that too. I also used the lighter coconut milk as that’s what came in my online shopping order (sigh), instead of the full-fat milk I’d ordered. I adjusted the fat content by adding some cream to the yogurt in the original, but you can play around as you like, using all yogurt, or a mix of the two.
Blood Orange & Coconut Panna Cotta – serves 6
Caramel:
140g granulated sugar
Panna cotta:
4 gelatine leaves
400ml tin coconut milk (ideally full fat, not the light version)
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 tsp orange blossom water
zest of two blood oranges
150ml natural yogurt
200ml double cream
To serve:
4 blood oranges, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
1 tsp orange blossom water
Start by making the caramel: lightly grease six ramekin dishes and place on a tray or baking sheet. Put the sugar and 5 tbsp water into a small pan over a low heat. Stir slowly until the sugar has dissolved, then allow the syrup to boil without stirring. Take off the heat when the syrup starts to turn brown, taking care not to burn it. Pour into the prepared ramekins and set aside.
Now make the panna cotta: soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water. While they are soaking, scrape/pour the coconut milk into a pan over a low heat, adding the sugar, vanilla paste, orange blossom water and orange zest. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is gently simmering. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine, add to the pan and stir until dissolved. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly, then stir in the cream and yogurt.
Pass the mixture through a sieve into a jug to make sure it is silky smooth, then pour carefully into the ramekins. When cool, transfer to the fridge to set overnight.
To serve, loosen the sides of each panna cotta with a small knife. Pour boiling water into a small shallow bowl and sit each ramekin into the hot water for a few seconds to help loosen the caramel. Put a small serving dish on top of each one, turn upside down and turn out. Serve with the blood orange slices.
Finally for today, my sorbet recipe is loosely based (sugar content halved!) on the original recipe book that came with my first ice cream maker, a Magimix with a freeze-ahead bowl. It served me well for 25 years or so until I finally succumbed a few years ago and treated myself to a fully automatic Cuisinart ice cream maker. No more finding space for the bowl in my well-stocked upright freezer, especially given that frost-free freezers may look just as large, but have a smaller internal capacity due to the frost-free workings and extra insulation. You can still make the sorbet in a container by taking out every hour or so and mixing in the ice crystals as the juice sets, of course.
Blood Orange Sorbet
125 g granulated sugar
450 ml water
Zest of two blood oranges
300 ml freshly squeezed blood orange juice (I needed 7 oranges)
Juice of one lime (or lemon)
1 egg white, whisked to soft peaks
Place the sugar, water and orange zest into a pan over a gentle heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Then turn up the heat and boil for 10-12 minutes, or until it reduces and you have a syrupy mixture. Allow to cool.
When cool, stir in the orange and lime juice, and chill the mixture for a couple of hours in the fridge. Then pour into your ice cream maker and set the timer for 30-40 mins. Check every so often to check whether it is starting to set. Add the whisked egg white at this point and continue churning for another 10 minutes. You may need to mix in any residual egg white by hand when turning into a freezer container. Alternatively, freeze in a container, breaking up the ice crystals every hour or so until it starts to firm up, and fold in the egg white with the final mixing.
Enjoy!
Rhubarb & Raspberries 