Orange you glad it’s springtime?

» Uses for orange blossom water in spring treats

Roshni Riar
Staff Writer

 

ut of curiosity—I’m sure the nice

weather had something to do with
it—I picked upa bottle of orange blossom
water from my local Walmart a few weeks
ago. I’ve come to find that it’s a really
complex and unique flavour that is perfect
for spring treats.

I've compiled some fun recipes to
experience the fresh, citrusy flavour that
just a few drops of orange blossom water
can offer:

Orange Blossom Olive Oil Cake

2 cups flour (cake or all-purpose)

1/3 cup cornmeal (or ground-up oats)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tbsp coconut milk (or whatever you have)
2-1/2 tbsp orange blossom water

2-1/2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tbsp orange zest

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs (replace these with flax eggs if you'd
like to make this recipe vegan)

1-1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

This ingredient list might seem
intimidating, but I promise that the result
is totally worth trying it, even if you're not
much of a baker. This dessert is a light,
fluffy cake that is slightly floral and tangy.
It’s perfect for a spring treat!

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, mix together

flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda,
and salt. In another bowl, whisk together
eggs, sugar, and orange zest (use an electric

hand mixer or stand mixer if you have one).

Beat these ingredients together until they
become light, ribbony, and pale yellow—it
will take at least three to five minutes.

Once the mixture is pale yellow,
slowly start drizzling in one cup of olive
oil. After the first cup is incorporated, add
another quarter cup. Keep beating until
mixture begins to thicken. Now thickened,
mix together milk, orange blossom water,
orange juice, and vanilla extract in a small
bowl.

Slowly add the small bowl of wet
ingredients to the eggs, sugar, and olive
oil. Mix until incorporated and slowly
begin whisking in your dry ingredients.
Once all the dry ingredients are in the
bowl, combine until the batter is fully
incorporated and thick.

Using olive oil, heavily grease a 9 x
9 baking pan or two muffin tins. Using
parchment paper will help the batter not
stick to the pan. Pour the batter in and
tap the pan on counter to release any air
bubbles before placing it in oven. Bake
for 35 minutes, checking with a toothpick
constantly. Pull the cake while it’s still
moist in the middle—using the toothpick
test to tell that it is still moist. If you need
to add 10 minutes of bake time, that’s
totally fine too. For muffin-sized cakes,
they tend to cook more quickly so start
checking them around the 20-minute
mark,

After baking, poke holes in the top of

 

the cakes and drizzle your remaining olive
oil over them. Once cool, remove from pan
and let rest for 20 minutes. You can eat
this cake as-is, or slap on some icing and
top with your choice of chopped nuts—I
normally use pistachios.

Speaking of icing, here’s a nice icing
recipe that is great on a number of desserts
this spring, including the olive oil cake.

Orange Blossom Water Icing

1 cup icing sugar

2 tbsp coconut milk (or your preferred
milk)

2 tbsp orange blossom water

1 tsp orange zest

Mix ingredients together, adjusting as
necessary until the mixture is white and
thick. The result is a spreadable and
delicious icing. You can put this on just
about anything—trust me, I’ve tried.

If you're feeling adventurous, try
whipping up a refreshing orange blossom
water cocktail to have along with your

freshly iced cake. When utilizing orange
blossom water in cocktails, I generally use
it in place of bitters. So, for a citrusy gin
and tonic, I'd do something like this:

Orange Blossom Water Cocktail
2 ounces gin

1 tsp orange blossom water

12 ounces tonic water (1.5 cups)
One orange, thinly sliced

One lime, halved

Handful of mint leaves

1/2 cup ice

Simply shake together gin, orange blossom
water, ice, and the lime juice from one half.
Inatall glass, add as many orange
slices as you'd like. Take some mint leaves

and crush them in between your fingers
to release their oils, then add to glass. Put
in some ice, then pour the gin mixture
over top. Top the glass off with tonic water
and affix a lime wedge—sliced from the
remaining half—to the rim.

The paleo diet does leave room for dessert

» No-churn avocado ice cream from ‘Paleo Sweets’ cookbook

Serge ts)

 

Morgan Hannah
Life & Style Editor

and fruits, eggs, seeds, nuts, herbs and
spices, and healthy fats and oils,” said

 

ust when you thought being vegan was

Ale. Suddenly, the generation all about
avocado toast starts to make sense.

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difficult, here comes a new food fad
that will have you throwing out all but
the fish and avocados... or so I thought
until I gave it a try for two weeks and
realized I've practically been paleo all
this time! And lo and behold, I came
across PaleoHacks: Paleo Sweets written
by certified Nutritional Therapist and
paleo chef Kelsey Ale, a book that
had me changing my mind about the
caveman diet.

Shortly after ordering this baker’s
aid online, I found Ale on Instagram and
started a conversation. I wanted to know
just exactly what one could and couldn't
eat while taking on the paleolithic diet.

“To practice the Paleo diet, you
must be willing to cut out everything
that wasn’t available for us to eat during
the Paleolithic era |... ] this includes
anything processed, grains, and a lot of
dairy products, sugar, legumes, vegetable
oils, margarine and trans fats, soft
drinks, and any artificial sweeteners,”
said Ale in an Instagram interview with
the Other Press.

Feeling just a bit overwhelmed, I
had to ask what was left.

“The good stuff! Meat, fish, veggies

Dieting lesson aside, I didn’t try
out being paleo for its healthy meal
options—I went straight for the sweets.

I was curious to know how I could still
consume cakes, cookies, pies, and ice
cream when most of these temptations
are strictly forbidden because of my
sensitivities to wheat and dairy, and
because paleo said so. Finding Ale’s
book was a godsend—pages and pages
of picturesque baked goodies left my
mouth watering, from classic walnut
brownies and Congo bar blondies, to the
sexy black forest cake—Ale’s favourite—
to mini flourless chocolate cakes, layered
mocha cheesecakes, blueberry cream
tarts, and honey vanilla ice cream! My
food fix was, well, fixed!

The paleo recipe I’ve decided to
share from Ale’s sweets book is her
no-churn avocado ice cream, one of the
easier—not to mention classic—recipes
that is sure to be a fan favourite. Flipping
to the back of the book, the recipe says
it serves four to six people, witha prep
time of four hours and 15 minutes.
However, that’s mostly just freezer time.
There are literally only three steps to this
ice cream:

First, combine all ingredients in
a blender and mix until smooth and
creamy.

Second, pour the mixture into a loaf
pan or other container and freeze for
four hours—told you—or overnight.

Finally, allow the ice cream to set for
5 to10 minutes to soften before serving.

My kind of recipe!

Admittedly, I hadn’t made ice cream
before this, and I think it’s because of
the churning process—I haven't wanted
to bite the bullet and buy an ice cream
maker just yet. However, this no-churn
ice cream has me giving it four and a half
stars out of five. For all its simplicity,
if not made just right, the liquids will
crystallize in the freezer and ruin that
expected creamy texture of the frozen
treat. And treat it is! The sweetness of
the coconut cream and honey blends
perfectly with the avocado flavour,
leaving mouths wanting more.

Hot tip: Avocados tend to brown
over time, even when mashed into an ice
cream mixture, so eat up quickly!

No-Churn Avocado Ice Cream
Ingredients:

1-1/2 large avocados, ripe and soft
1/2 cup honey

2 cups coconut cream

2 tbsp lemon juice or lime juice
1/4 tsp salt