Seville Oranges, some alternatives to marmalade
I love oranges, they are such a perk to the dreary cold months after Christmas, a memory of warmer shores and scented groves. I love the romance of Seville oranges too, the whisper of Moorish mystery, the tart mouth puckering juice but I'm just not really into marmalade, so what to do? Well, quite a lot it seems and the last two weeks I have been turning a kilo of these bitter oranges (£1.75 too, what a bargain) into a number of bright and zesty things to let the sunlight back in.
The first three I zested and immersed in a spare bottle of gin (every house has a spare bottle right?) with the juice of one and about 50g caster sugar. This is still infusing and is slowly turning a gorgeous sunny yellow. I'm expecting a sort of orange 'limoncello' and will keep you posted when we first try it.
I whipped the zest of two more, along with the juice of another three into some double cream with 175g unrefined icing sugar and froze this for an easy Seville orange ice-cream.
As last year, I also made some curd, combining the Seville orange juice and zest with that from some clementines to increase the orange colour. Four to five oranges, 400g sugar, 125g unsalted butter and two eggs produced enough for three small jars.
With the remaining oranges I wanted to make a cake bringing together the joys of Mediterranean holidays with almonds, some essence of spice and honey. I was considering a yoghurt cake but instead opted for a wonderfully perfumed almond and polenta cake, using this recipe from Nigel Slater. I altered the recipe slightly, using 100g blanched almonds and 50g almond flakes for a little change in texture and included the zest of three Seville oranges. For the Arabic inspired pistachio topping (adding a pleasing contrast of green), use 40g shelled and unsalted pistachios, roughly blended and add to the top of the cake in the last 10 minutes of cooking.
The zest of any remaining orange skins didn't go to waste. With the remaining pistachios, butter, flour and a little semolina I now have a tin full of Seville orange and pistachio shortbread. Easy, quick and cut with a heart shaped cutter, the perfect introduction to February.
The first three I zested and immersed in a spare bottle of gin (every house has a spare bottle right?) with the juice of one and about 50g caster sugar. This is still infusing and is slowly turning a gorgeous sunny yellow. I'm expecting a sort of orange 'limoncello' and will keep you posted when we first try it.
I whipped the zest of two more, along with the juice of another three into some double cream with 175g unrefined icing sugar and froze this for an easy Seville orange ice-cream.
As last year, I also made some curd, combining the Seville orange juice and zest with that from some clementines to increase the orange colour. Four to five oranges, 400g sugar, 125g unsalted butter and two eggs produced enough for three small jars.
With the remaining oranges I wanted to make a cake bringing together the joys of Mediterranean holidays with almonds, some essence of spice and honey. I was considering a yoghurt cake but instead opted for a wonderfully perfumed almond and polenta cake, using this recipe from Nigel Slater. I altered the recipe slightly, using 100g blanched almonds and 50g almond flakes for a little change in texture and included the zest of three Seville oranges. For the Arabic inspired pistachio topping (adding a pleasing contrast of green), use 40g shelled and unsalted pistachios, roughly blended and add to the top of the cake in the last 10 minutes of cooking.
The zest of any remaining orange skins didn't go to waste. With the remaining pistachios, butter, flour and a little semolina I now have a tin full of Seville orange and pistachio shortbread. Easy, quick and cut with a heart shaped cutter, the perfect introduction to February.
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