A festival of Oranges
Citrus fruit. Sour, sweet, tangy or tart. Take your pick with these delicious recipes.
A Festival of Oranges
By regular garden to table contributor - Kerrie Maloney
It has been a great year for our relatively newly planted oranges and tangelos and although still very small they have been very productive. It really has been a festival of oranges and all the other citrus.
With so many oranges there were plenty for me to indulge in freshly squeezed juice. The downside of juice is lots of citrus shells that need to be either composted or put into the green bin. I am not one to waste if it can be avoided so decided that I would attempt an Indian style pickle or chutney with them. It was a great success. So much so I purchase oranges to add to the grapefruit that is a staple for my breakfast juice. My daily orange is squeezed, then cut up into eighths and placed in a container in the fridge. A week’s orange shells will usually be enough to make a small batch of Sweet Orange Pickle. Sometimes I save and freeze the oranges and make a double batch. This preserve is great served with Indian curries and Moroccan dishes.
Sweet Orange Pickle
Step 1
750 g orange shells
1 tablespoons salt
* I mostly use the squeezed shell of the oranges from my morning juice, save them in the fridge until you have enough
Step 2
Oranges from step 1, rinsed.
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder
1 tablespoons of salt
Optional - 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
Optional - 1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida powder
Optional - 1 teaspoon of citric acid for extra tang
Method
Step 1
Wash and chop the citrus into small/ bite sized pieces.
Place chopped limes in a non reactive bowl (stainless steel, glass or plastic), add the salt and mix well. Allow limes to stand for 24 – 48 hours. This will draw some of the bitterness from the pith.
Drain of liquid, rinse well and drain again.
Step 2
Combine citrus and remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil and then simmer for 20 -30 minutes or until thick. Stir often as it will tend to stick as it thickens.
Spoon the pickle into sterilised jars, cover with Kleerview /cellophane covers and seal with a lid.
This will make one large jar or two small jars.
My passion for baking is well known as is my love of anything lemony and tangy. I make this cake a lot and have used oranges and tangelos with great success; it is another great way to use up the orange shells. It is vital that any thick layer of pith be removed from lemons and oranges as the pith will make the cake very bitter.
This cake is one from my repertoire of quickly made cakes, it can just as easily be made with a stick blender or using conventional cake making techniques, however, the fruit will need to be finely chopped with a knife. The addition of the fruit pulp and the syrup keeps it moist and a little puddle of syrup alongside the cake with some ice-cream or cream makes for a delicious dessert.
Lemon Syrup Cake
Quick mix / food processor
Ingredients for Cake
4 lemons, I use Meyer
250 g soft butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 cups SR flour or 2 cups flour sifted with 1 tablespoon of baking powder
Lemon Syrup
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Combine juice and sugar in a small saucepan and stir and boil until slightly reduced and a syrup.
Method
Preheat oven to 160 deg C, grease and line base of a 23 cm round tin. I have also used this to make two smaller cakes, cupcakes and a large loaf tin.
Remove the ends from the lemons cut into four lengthwise, remove the central piece of pith and seeds. If the lemons have a lot of pith then peel the skin from the lemons, remove and discard the pith. Too much pith will make the cake bitter.
Optional
Place prepared lemons in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Drain and allow the lemons to cool.
Place the cool lemons and sugar in a food processor or use a stick blender and process until pulpy and the skin is broken up into fine flecks.
Add the butter and process again
Add the eggs and give a quick quiz, then add the flour
Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin. Bake until cake is set and starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin, approximately 50 -60 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven and pierce all over with a skewer. Brush with warm syrup a few times to allow the syrup to slowly penetrate the cake, remove from tin and brush syrup around the sides.
Variation
Ice with lemon or orange icing or a drizzle made with a watered down icing or glaze
*Use lemons, mandarins or oranges, keeping the prepared weight about the same, try to remove all the seeds.
