Blood Orange and Ginger Drizzle Cake

It’s a food fact that if you want to find what’s best in season, head towards the markets.  Whether it’s an organic, bio-dynamic, re-mortgage your house to afford it style farmer’s market or just the local greengrocer and his striped awning.  If you shop from the markets, you will see the seasons as they change and develop, the colours of your purchases satisfyingly ebbing and flowing with the weather.  Right now, blood oranges are having their time again.  Or, as I was recently informed, blush oranges.  The connotation of blood clearly being too much for some shoppers!  Rich ruby red with swirls of amber, these tarter, more intense versions of an orange are utterly delicious and as pleasing to look at as they are to eat.  I’m currently favouring a simple salad made from cooked beetroot, poached chicken and slices of blood orange, lightly dressed in oil and scattered with fresh coriander.  It’s a great combination and one I hope to show you later in the month.  In the meantime, I made this cake from a whim.  I do so love a lemon drizzle and thought that the tartness of the blood oranges would suit the overall feel.  The ginger is a warming addition and a nod to the drop in temperature in recent days.  You’re left with a light and zesty cake, soaked in sweet/sharp nectar and topped with a fine gauze of scented sugar crust.  It’s a winner and a rather lovely treat on a cold afternoon.

To my mind, blood oranges are best.  But I’m sure that if you use regular oranges for this recipe, it will work just as well.  In fact, I’m positive it would be lovely.

BLOOD ORANGE AND GINGER DRIZZLE CAKE

You will need a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe

For the cake

225g/8oz butter replacement - Pure Sunflower Spread

225g/8oz golden caster sugar

4 eggs – 4 tsp Orgran Egg Replacer whisked together with 8 tbsp water

225g/8oz Doves Farm Gluten Free Self Raising Flour

1 heaped tsp ground ginger

1tbsp rice milk

1tsp xanthan gum

The zest of 2 blood oranges

For the drizzle

The juice of 1 blood orange

85g/3oz golden caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180c (160c Fan) and grease and line your loaf tin.  Cream together the butter replacement and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the egg replacement mixture, a bit at a time, slowly stirring them through until fully incorporated. 

Sift in the flour, ginger and xanthan gum then add the grated orange zest and rice milk, mix well until fully combined and then spoon in to the lined loaf tin, levelling the top of the cake with the back of your spoon.

Bake in the oven for 45 – 50 minutes until cooked through and a thin skewer or cocktail stick inserted in to the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Allow the cake to cool a little in its tin while you mix together the remaining caster sugar and orange juice.  Pierce the warm cake all over using the skewer or a fork and then pour over the drizzle – the juice will be absorbed into the cake and will dry to form a sugary crust on the cake’s surface.  Leave the cake in its tin until completely cool and then cut into slices and serve.

Simple Chicken and Coconut Curry

I was preparing to make a simple salad for the blog this week.  A combination of finely sliced sprouts, caramelised roasted sweet potato and lightly toasted pecans, all drizzled with a light lemony herb dressing.  Fresh, crisp, full of flavour, I thought it was just the thing to help boost the immune system and banish the January blues.  Then I looked out the window.  It’s freezing cold, wet and miserable here, the sky is grey and each time I venture out I have to wrap my hands in whatever wool is to hand (that will be a pair of gloves then) and pace to my destination, breathing puffs of frozen air into my scarf to keep my lower face warm.  Lovely as I know it will be – and I may well work on it a little later - I don’t want a salad to eat, I want something warming, nourishing and hot!  Curry is the answer, of course it is – who, after all, doesn’t love a curry?

This is the quickest and easiest of curries: with a little prep, a little more marinating and a blast of cooking you have a delicious, rich and fragrant dish which I think does more for body and soul in January than any raw salad or seaweed juice ever could.  I’ve chosen to use chicken thighs because I think they hold the best flavour, but feel free to use whatever cut or indeed meat that you like.  The spices are a simple blend and are in no way gospel.  Use whatever you have and miss out whatever you haven’t - that’s the beauty of making a curry; you can flavour it to whatever heights you like.  I like this combination of spices and I think the coconut milk is key, adding creaminess and a buttery note.  You could however use cashew nuts to thicken the sauce, as I’ve done here in this Lamb Korma.  Serve with white basmati rice and a handful of coriander leaves – it’ll keep the cold and blues at bay.

SIMPLE CHICKEN AND COCONUT CURRY

Serves 4

8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs

1 large white onion

2 cloves of garlic

½ tin coconut milk

2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp ground coriander

½ - 1 tsp chilli powder – depending on how hot you like it

½ tsp black mustard seeds

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp mixed spice

2 tbsp tomato puree

Juice of half a lemon

2 tbsp groundnut oil

A bunch of fresh coriander

Stir together the coconut milk, lemon juice and all of the spices in a large mixing bowl until blended.  Make a few diagonal cuts, about 1cm deep, on each chicken thigh and then place them in the marinade, leave to marinate for 2 – 24 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 220c (200c Fan).  Finely slice the garlic and cut the onion into thin half moons.  Heat the oil in a large, shallow heavy based casserole, fry the onion and garlic until softened and just starting to colour.  Add the chicken thighs and sauce into the casserole, season well and then bake in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes.  Serve on a bed of basmati rice with a scattering of torn coriander leaves over the top.