Tag: blood orange

Blood Orange, Almond & Chia Mini Cakes

Published on by gourmetcasakitchenLeave a comment

image

To finish off the last of the blood oranges I had excess of (read previous post to understand the mishap)  I decided to make my orange and almond cake but mini versions. I added black chia seeds to this recipe instead of poppy seeds for extra nutrition, we all know how wonderful chia seeds are for us but you can leave them out if you like.

The blood oranges made a nice change from the normal oranges in this recipe, these little cakes  are also gluten-free and refined sugar-free just sweetened with rice malt syrup and the sweetness of the blood oranges . You can make this as one large cake just extend the cooking time to 1 hour. I did sprinkle some icing sugar for photo purposes but you can totally leave that part out to make them completely refined sugar-free.

Served them with some natural yoghurt to top things off,  a delectable little guilt free treat indeed which can also be popped in the freezer to save for a later date. A must try for any dessert lover which is trying to cut out refined sugar and is gluten intolerant.

Blood Orange, Almond & Chia Seed Cakes

A gluten and refined sugar-free cake that perfect for afternoon tea or a guilt free dessert

Ingredients

3 blood oranges

3 eggs

1/3 cup rice malt syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

2 cup almond meal (ground almonds)

1 tb black chia seeds

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 160’C
  2. In a small saucepan place 2 whole blood oranges skin on and fill with water to cover
  3. Boil for 1 hour till soft. Drain and set aside to cool
  4. Process oranges in a food processor till smooth
  5. Add eggs, rice malt or sweetener of choice, vanilla, baking power, and almond meal process till all combined, stir through chia seeds
  6. Peel and slice one blood orange and place in the bottom of the cake tins
  7. Pour evenly into individual greased  baking tins or a 20cm  round greased cake tin
  8. Bake in the oven for 30-35mins or 1 hour for whole cake
  9. Leave in the tins for 10mins to cool slightly before turning onto a wire rack fruit side up
  10. Serve with natural yoghurt

image

 

 

Sicilian Blood Orange & Fennel Salad

Published on by gourmetcasakitchenLeave a comment

What to do with a kilo of blood oranges?

Like always my mind is thinking of a million things at once, who’s picking up son 1 from basketball training? Son 3 birthday party in a few weeks, son 2 preschool excursion coming up oh did I send back the permission slip, school packs for next year are due, bugger I haven’t washed the dog and the ironing can wait till tomorrow or next week… eek and of course thinking what’s for dinner. All whilst hearing the three most repeated words in my household nagging at me every half an hour, “Mum I’m hungry”… Typical day in the life of a mum I’m sure many can relate.

image

So when I rush to order my online groceries and mistakenly 1kg of blood oranges arrive at my doorstep instead of  just 1 it’s time to think outside the box on what to create with these beauties and one dish comes straight to mind.

In season here now in Australia Blood Oranges are readily available, you can eat them just as is in a fruit salad or in your breakfast bowl (which is what I originally planned to do)  as they contain more antioxidants than ordinary oranges and excellent source of vitamin C. But with a kilo of them might be a lengthy task. Blood oranges do taste a little sweeter than oranges but with a touch of bitterness which can make them be a little tart for juicing and may have to mix with some other sweet fruits such as green apples or pineapple.

image

Crimson in colour almost blood like hence the name makes salads pop with colour and makes a talking point for entertaining. Also popular uses are for making marmalade, gelato and sorbet but my husbands favourite which is a Sicilian dish which I couldn’t deny him of is a fresh salad of  blood orange segments, pieces of fennel, fresh mint, torn pieces of  creamy buffalo mozzarella, pistachios for crunch and dressed with an olive oil and blood orange vinaigrette.

The Aniseed flavour of the fennel and the bitter sweet oranges are made to be together with few ingredients and little time to put together you have a very captivating dish others will surely swoon over. Perfect paired with a fillet of fresh grilled fish and a glass of wine. A very healthy and delicious dinner indeed.

Sicilian Blood Orange & Fennel Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

  • Servings: 2-4
  • Print

A Bitter Sweet Sicilian Salad perfectly accompaniment with grilled fish or chicken

Ingredients

1 bulb fennel top cut off and sliced

2 blood oranges -1 sliced, 1 peeled and segmented

1/4 red onion thinly sliced

1 large buffalo mozzarella roughly torn into pieces

1/4 cup marinated olives

1/4 cup pistachios roughly chopped

Handful mint leaves torn

Blood Orange Vinaigrette 

1  blood orange juiced

30 ml olive oil

1 tb red wine vinegar

1 garlic crushed

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Place fennel, blood orange pieces in a bowl, add red onion, buffalo mozzarella and olives. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios and top with torn mint leaves.
  2. In a jar add all vinaigrette ingredients and shake well. Serve with salad.

image