The Ultimate Guide to Baking with Seasonal Citrus Fruits
Citrus are the perfect fruit to balance out the gloomy sentiments that sometimes come with these long, cold winter months: they're bright, refreshing, zingy and loaded with vitamin C to keep our immune systems fighting fit!
Fruits like oranges, mandarins and grapefruit are divine eaten as is, but are also a welcome addition to a multitude of dishes - no better way to brighten a salad than with chunks of orange!
And lemons… oh my, the zest, the juice - even the flesh (sometimes) goes a long way to creating uplifting dishes!
Here is a pairing guide to help make the most of our seasonal citrus:
Seville oranges.
Perfect for homemade marmalade with their bitter-sweet notes. Marmalade pairs spectacularly well with butter pastries, spice cakes, chocolate… and, of course, simply lathered on toast.
Navel oranges.
Superb for eating there and then, navel oranges also pair well with strawberries, bananas, pomegranate seeds, pistachios, pecans and almonds. They're great mixed into a fruit salad, tossed atop a parfait, or thrown into a salad. Their zest and juice make wonderful additions to cakes, scones and cookies, and their rind is the perfect candidate for making candied citrus peels.
Tangelos.
Combining the sweet, tart, tangy flavours of grapefruit with the fragrant, honeyed tones of tangerines, tangelos are a fabulous addition to salads, smoothies, juices, and cakes. Tangelo’s flavours complement those of mangoes, pineapples and lemons, along with meats such as poultry, turkey and seafood.
Grapefruit.
Ruby red and pink grapefruit bring the perfect tangy freshness to rich desserts, and pair well with vanilla, honey, berries and basil.
Lemons.
Their sweet, floral aromas work well with lavender, rosemary, almond and honey, making lemons and amazing addition to tarts, shortbread and cakes. For zesting, use a microplane to finely zest the fruit (avoiding the underlying pith, which can be quite bitter). Lemon juice is a great way to balance sweetness with acidity, making it great for glazes and frosting. The acidity tends to enhance the richness of buttery desserts, so using a citrus glaze on scones and pound cakes is a winner!
Limes.
Their bold acidity pairs well with the likes of coconut and pie crusts containing Graham crackers. You can't go wrong with a key lime pie, or try something a little different and add them to custards, cheesecakes and frostings.
Mandarins.
Their mild flavours work well with caramel, spices and vanilla. Try including them in upside-down cakes or cheesecakes for a tame citrus note.