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14
Mar
Yemi's Food Stories: Middle Eastern citrus cake made with blood oranges
Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in the 2022 series of BBC TV’s Masterchef competition.
Yemi writes for the Stray Ferret about her love of the area’s food and shares cooking tips.
I am not a huge fan of winter but there are a few things I look forward to every year – wearing boots and the vibrant and beautiful ruby colour of blood oranges. Slicing one open welcomes you with the drama of streaks of crimson, sunset orange, plum colour around the edges and if you’re really lucky you get deep ruby ones that makes you pause in admiration.
The aroma is deeper than your standard orange, with a whisper of raspberry and a gentle bitterness that keeps the sweetness in check. I can’t resist buying them even when I don’t have immediate plans for them, and I have been known to juice and freeze blood oranges to store up for summer.
Versatile
Blood oranges work in both sweet and savoury dishes, with the beautiful colour creating stunning results. I love drying the rind and adding it to sugar or neutral vegetable oil to flavour it over time.
The versatility means you can segment them over thick yoghurt with a scattering of toasted pistachios for crunch and a light honey drizzle for sweetness making it perfect for breakfast. If you swap the honey for flavoured oil, the same dish could go with flatbread and grilled meat
You can use the juice to make a vinaigrette dressing that complements bitter salad leaves like chicory and you can create a glossy syrup to drizzle on your cake, or swirl it into your ice cream for jewel-toned desserts, or use them in your cocktails or mocktails.
A simple blood orange salad with a herb dressing.
This past weekend, I bought a batch of blood oranges and decided to make a range of dishes, including a citrus-marinated chicken wings served with the citrus, labneh and pistachio and some yoghurt flatbread.
I couldn’t end my weekend without creating a dessert using blood oranges, so I decided to create a version of my Middle Eastern Citrus Cake, swapping the rose water for elderflower and used the blood orange rind in the batter.
This cake is a ‘mix in a bowl’ recipe comprising unsweetened shredded coconut, plain flour, eggs, neutral oil, milk and sugar. Once baked, I drenched it with a syrup made from freshly squeezed oranges, tangerine, lemon and sugar, with a touch of elderflower. The finished cake is golden and crunchy on the outside because of the coconut, which comes out toasty.
Blood oranges, labneh and pistachio with flavoured oil.
Whilst this baked, I made a refreshing blood orange and hibiscus sorbet to serve with it. The hibiscus was there to intensify the blood orange colour and add a bit of tartness to what could easily be a sweet sorbet. To balance your sorbet, a pinch of salt and some lemon juice can replace the hibiscus. I finished the cake with a garnish of orange segments tossed in left-over syrup and some toasted coconut flakes. I ended up with a simple dessert that looked like it had taken a long time to create.
Seasonal cooking isn’t complicated. It’s about catching ingredients at their peak and letting them sing without drowning them in noise. Blood oranges don’t need much – good olive oil, a pinch of salt, maybe a drizzle of honey if you’re feeling indulgent. That’s it.
They won’t be here forever, so buy them while they are still glowing and let winter end on a high note: juicy, vibrant, unapologetically bold.
Here is the simple cake recipe. If you love coconut, you will keep coming back to it.
Middle Eastern Citrus Cake with Blood Orange and Hibiscus Sorbet
Ingredients
220g of caster sugar
250ml of vegetable oil
3 eggs
187ml of milk
150g of plain flour
140g shredded unsweetened shredded coconut
1tbs of baking powder
Yemi's coconut and citrus cake with blood orange sorbet.
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Grease your cake tin
3. Whisk the sugar and your wet ingredients in a bowl
4. Sift and add the flour and baking powder
5. Mix well and pour into your cake tin or cupcake tin
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden or an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cupcakes will cook in 12 to 15 minutes.
7. Use a thin skewer or toothpick to prick the cake to get it ready for the syrup
To make the syrup, add 125 ml of orange juice, 25ml of lemon juice and 100g of caster sugar to a small pot and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup thickens.
Remove from heat and drizzle or brush over your cake until fully absorbed. Retain some syrup to serve with the cake along with toasted coconut flakes.
A scoop of sorbet or ice cream would be a very welcome addition, rounding your dessert off beautifully.
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