August has, thus far, been hit and miss as far as weather is concerned. Fourteen degrees one day, twenty seven the next. An unpredictable month calls for a very mixed diet indeed. Cravings have altered from dishes of hot lentil soup, to bright and fresh Greek salads in matters of twenty four hours.
Although autumn is probably my favorite time of year, I am in no way yet ready to wave farewell to summer; it has barely been. The shops are already stocking scarves and coats, and articles are sharing the latest recipe for pecan pie. What is the rush? The weather is erratic, but let us enjoy what is left of the heat. Years go by so quickly, jumping from season to season. Let us take each day as it comes.
I feel that this recipe is a reflection of what I am craving the most on warm evenings. Something sweet, vibrant and light. Something that takes minimal effort to devise in humid kitchens. I wanted to keep the oranges as the focal point of the dessert, to not drown them with too many other flavours, but to just let them perform with quiet elegance. There is something highly satisfying and humbling about eating such a simple dish in the sunlight.
Serves 2
Warmed oranges in cardamom syrup with flaked almonds & zesty crème fraiche
Ingredients
- 3 large juicy oranges
- 200 millilitres crème fraiche (reduced fat is also fine)
- 2 cardamom pods gently bashed in a pestle and mortar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon demerara sugar
Instructions
- Start by splitting your crème fraiche in to 2 serving bowls, and zesting around an eighth of an orange in to each serving. Fold the zest through gently.
- Take the same orange, and prepare to fillet it! This was the first time I had ever tried filleting an orange, and it proved to be challenging but not as difficult as I thought. Just make sure you have a sharp knife and steady hands!
- Cut the top and bottom off of the orange so that it sits steadily on your counter. Proceed to cut downwards around the orange to remove all of the skin and pith.
- To get perfectly filleted chunks, cut out each segment leaving behind all of the skin.
- For a video on how to fillet a orange, I found this one quite helpful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=441KaBrVZtw
- Continue to do this with a second orange until you have segments cut from both.
- In a pan, gently heat the juice of a third orange on a low-medium heat. Add to this your cinnamon stick, demerara sugar and your bruised cardamom pods and allow to infuse for around 3 minutes.
- Up the heat for 2 more minutes and watch as the juice thickens slightly.
- Remove the pan from the hob and strain the liquid through a sieve in to a dish to rid of the cardamom and cinnamon.
- Place the liquid back in to the pan, along with the orange segments and gently heat through for around 4 minutes on a low-medium heat.
- On a tray, lay your flaked almonds out and place under a hot grill for 2 minutes until golden brown.
- You're ready to serve! Pour the orange segments over the crème fraiche and finish with the crunchy flaked almonds.
- Enjoy!
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