Snow and Oranges

The snow that appeared at the start of the week was just a taste of what was to come. It snowed all day on Friday, settling into drifts as the ground was still frozen. Again, not a hint of sunlight, just dark snow heavy skies and a biting wind from the East. It's too cold and dark to even fancy a walk through the snowy fields so today has been a day spent experimenting in the kitchen.

I'd bought some Seville oranges on impulse earlier during the week. I've never cooked with them before but they have such a short season and as I've been trying to eat seasonally thought I'd give them a go. I love oranges of any sort, they remind me of winters as a child and also holidays in Spain. Orange is also one of my favourite colours (I have a bright orange fridge!). As I don't eat much bread (mainly time but also health reasons) and we don't own a toaster (when we do have toast we use a griddle pan), I didn't want to make marmalade. However, I do love curd, so I thought a tart and fragrant orange curd would be delicious (on toast, swirled into yoghurt, stirred into cream on top of a pavlova, sandwiched between two slices of Victoria sponge or guiltily spooned straight from the fridge...most likely!!!). A little research on the internet revealed several recipes and I based mine on one from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (see here) but changed it slightly adding way more oranges and using the zest from them too. I also used unrefined caster sugar so the resulting colour was not as bright but this is what I had in the house (in the vague hope that the unrefined version of sugar may retain just the slightest of possible health benefits).

To use the rest of the oranges and include some of the freshly made curd I also made a cake based on a recipe from Dan Lepard's recent recipe for Spiced Olive Oil Cake (see here). I've made cakes before using olive oil and like them very much but if you are not keen on the flavour of olive oil then use a light version or maybe a less flavourful oil such as sunflower. I like the idea that the cake contains both symbols of Spain, the olive and the orange, as a future variant I may also add almonds in some way but for now, here is the recipe I used.

Seville Orange and Olive Oil Cake with a Orange Curd and Ricotta Frosting
(based on a recipe by Dan Lepard)

3 medium eggs
100g soft light brown sugar
50g soft dark brown sugar
150ml extra virgin olive oil (use light olive oil if you find the flavour too strong)
Juice and zest of 2-3 Seville oranges (about 30ml of liquid)
200g stoneground wholemeal spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground cinnamon (plus a little extra to sprinkle on top of the cake)
60g ricotta cheese
2-3 tbsp orange curd (lemon curd will do)

Line the base and sides of a 20cm cake tin and heat the oven to 160C fan (180C without fan). Beat together the sugar and eggs using an electric whisk until pale and frothy, then add the juice, zest and oil and whisk again. Stir the flour, baking powder and spices together in a separate bowl then add to the egg mixture and fold in gently. Pour into the tin and bake for 50 minutes (test with a skewer and add a few minutes until it comes out clean). Leave to cool in the tin. For the frosting beat together a few tablespoons of orange (or lemon) curd into the ricotta until smooth and spread evenly over the top before dusting with cinnamon (you could add the frosting to the middle if you prefer).