Blood Orange Fool Food

BLOOD ORANGE AMARETTO SOUR

Steps:

• Add 1 cup ice to a cocktail shaker. Add the amaretto, lemon juice and blood orange juice and shake until cold and frothy.
• Fill 2 small glasses with ice and divide the drink between them. Garnish each with 1 curled blood orange rind and a maraschino cherry with a little bit of the cherry juice.

BLOOD ORANGE LEMONADE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan heat sugar and water for about 5 minutes until all the sugar is dissolved and it becomes a syrup consistency. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Fill a pitcher with ice and pour in the juices, simple syrup and club soda. Slice the lemon and blood orange into rounds and place them in the pitcher. Stir and pour into glass with ice. Garnish with mint.

BOODLE'S ORANGE FOOL

Steps:

• Use the sponge slices to line the bottom and halfway up the sides of a deep serving dish or bowl.
• Mix the orange and lemon zests and juices with the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
• In another bowl, whip the cream until it just starts to thicken, then slowly add the sweetened fruit juice, whipping the cream as you do so.
• Whip until the cream is light and thickened and all the juice absorbed.
• Pour the mixture over the sponge and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, longer if possible, so that the juice can soak into the sponge and the cream thicken Serve decorated with segments or slices of fresh orange.

10 BEST WAYS TO USE BLOOD ORANGES

Steps:

• Select your favorite recipe.
• Organize all the required ingredients.
• Prep a blood orange recipe in 30 minutes or less!

BLOOD ORANGE & DARK CHOCOLATE MADELEINES

Steps:

• Put the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat until it foams and turns a nutty brown colour - watch the pan carefully, as butter can burn quickly. Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool.
• Beat the eggs, sugar and zest in a large bowl with an electric hand whisk for about 5 mins until thick and pale. Add the juice and mix to combine. Mix the flour and baking powder together, then sift over the batter mixture, a third at a time, and fold in.
• Add a large spoonful of the batter to the butter, mixing together until smooth and combined. Pour this into the batter and gently fold together until fully combined. Press a sheet of cling film onto the surface of the mixture and chill overnight.
• About 30 mins before you want to bake the madeleines, grease a 12-hole madeleine tin with a little extra butter and dust with a little flour. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and put the tin in the freezer to chill for 30 mins. Remove the batter from the fridge and add about 1 heaped tbsp to each madeleine hole - be careful not to overfill as they will bake over the edge and won't form the characteristic hump. Depending on the size of your tin, you will have some batter left - either bake in batches or put the rest back in the fridge and bake within three days.
• Bake in the oven for 10-12 mins or until golden brown around the edges. Immediately turn out the madeleines onto a wire rack and leave to cool fully. Put the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and heat in the microwave on High in 30 sec bursts until about three-quarters of the chocolate has melted. Remove from the microwave and stir vigorously until the remaining chocolate has melted (this is a simple method of tempering and just ensures the chocolate will set properly at room temperature). Dip each madeleine halfway into the melted chocolate, allowing the excess to drip off, then place on a sheet of baking parchment. As the chocolate starts to set, but while still a little tacky, sprinkle with some of the Blood orange dust (below), if using, and allow to cool.

BLOOD ORANGE & CHILLI MARMALADE

Steps:

• Pare the oranges using a vegetable peeler, getting as little of the white pith on the strips of zest as possible - trim any off after with a knife. Finely slice the zest and put it in a preserving pan or a wide, deep pan. Peel what's left of the oranges, then roughly chop the flesh, removing and saving the pips as you go.
• Halve and deseed all the chillies. If you like your chutney with a kick, reserve the seeds from 2 of the chillies for later. Put the chillies and peppers in a food processor with the orange flesh and pulse until everything is really finely chopped. Tip into the pan along with the sugar, pectin and vinegar.
• Heat the pan gently until the sugar has fully dissolved. Meanwhile, put the blood orange pips into a tea infuser or tie into a muslin pouch that you can add to the pan too. Put a small saucer in the freezer. Bring the mixture to a vigorous boil and bubble for 40 mins, then turn off the heat.
• Spoon a little of the marmalade onto the chilled saucer. If after a minute it wrinkles when pushed with your finger, it's ready. If it's not, boil for another 2 mins, then repeat the test and keep going until it is ready. Stir the reserved chilli seeds into the marmalade, if using, at this point. Let the mixture cool for 20 mins, remove the pips, then ladle into sterilised jars. Will keep in a cool, dry place for 6 months.

BLOOD ORANGE POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and butter and line a 1-litre loaf tin.
• Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl for 8 mins until fluffy and very pale. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, then the soured cream and zest. Spoon into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 45-50 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool slightly in the tin, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
• To make the icing, combine the sugar and juice and spoon over the cake. Sprinkle over the pistachios and candied peel, if using (see tip, below). Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.