Tag Archives: citrus

Orange and Star Anise Festive Cocktail

Did you watch the Oscars this weekend? Dream of walking down the red carpet? Or simply prefer a sparkling cocktail and viewing party from the comfort of your own house? 🙂

If you love citrus but are not into those sweet syrupy cocktails, then this refreshing cocktail is just for you! Garnish with some pieces of star anise for a festive touch!

Oscars, garden party, holiday party or whatever.. cheers!

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh squeezed blood orange juice
1/2 lime, squeezed
2 oz. Cointreau or Absolut Mandarin Vodka (OR bourbon if that is your thing! Takes this cocktail in a different direction, but is definitely palatable.. again.. you kind of have to like the flavor of bourbon)
1/4 cup sparkling water
Orange slices, for garnish
4 pieces star anise (optional)

Directions

Combine juice, vodka, water and divide between two ice filled glasses
Garnish with orange and star anise
Cheers!

Lemon and Lime Juicing Tips

Making holiday cocktails with lemon or lime juice? Here’s a quick tip on juicing. First, get yourself a lemon squeezer. Not fancy, you can get a decent one for around $10. They come with single or double ‘bowls’. The double fits a lemon and lime separately, but single works fine!

Once you are ready to do some juicing, slice the lemon in half and instead of placing it into the bowl peel side down, simply turn it cut side down. Now when you press the handles together, the juice will not spray everywhere. Seems obvious now, but it wasn’t at first, so I wanted to pass this little tip along to make your juicing one step less sticky! 🙂

More festive cocktail recipes forthcoming. Have a great rest of 2015!

Orange Cake

This is a totally delicious cake! Eat it for breakfast or dress it up for high tea or dessert! You can enjoy this as is for paleo goodness, or add an optional sweet and citrusy glaze to make it even more amazing!

Though I haven’t tried it, Elana (from Elanaspantry.com) says there’s a Starbucks version out there that tastes just like this one.

The one tricky part of this recipe is that you have to boil oranges for 90 minutes. So plan ahead. The oranges are low maintenance while cooking, but keep an eye so you don’t run out of water. As an extra bonus, your house will be filled with a refreshing and natural citrusy aroma! 🙂

Ingredients

2 oranges
4 large eggs
1/2 cup agave nectar or honey (original recipe says 3/4 cup)
2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 tsp celtic sea salt
1 tsp baking soda

Glaze (optional)

1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 orange, thinly sliced for decoration

Instructions

Wash the oranges and boil them whole (peel and all) for 1 ½ hours, or until soft
Place whole oranges (peel and all) in a food processor and blend until smooth
Process in eggs, agave, almond flour, salt and baking soda until well blended
Pour batter into a greased 9 inch cake pan
Bake at 375° for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean
Cool in the pan for 2 hours
Make glaze by working orange juice into powdered sugar. You can add more/less liquid to get desired consistency. Pour onto cake and even out with spatula. Decorate with optional orange slices.
Enjoy or refrigerate for a few days (if you can keep from eating it up)! 🙂

Thanks for the inspiration Elanaspantry.com!

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