how to supreme an orange | apt 2b baking co.

Supremed citrus fruit is a beautiful garnish for all sorts of citrusy dishes – sweet & savory- and will make your fruit salads look classy as hell. The video below illustrating how to supreme an orange is the first in a new video series that Pete and I are tackling together. It will be full of basic kitchen techniques, and little how-tos - like how to frost a cake, roll out pie crust, and make rough puff pastry. I am so excited to share it with you today! Knowing how to confidently supreme any sort of citrus fruit is such a great back pocket technique that will make you look and feel fancy in the kitchen.

A few of my favorite recipes in Sweeter off the Vine call for supremed citrus fruit (grapefruit jam and a citrusy cake) too. While I did my best to describe how to do it in words, I think a visual reference is the best way to show this sort of technique. Let me know what you think in the comments, and let me know what techniques you'd like to see in this series too.

SOME NEWSY ANNOUNCEMENTS

The winner of the Sweeter off the Vine Mega Giveaway has been notified, thanks to everyone for entering! The Tasting Rome Giveaway is still open, all you have to do is leave a comment to enter.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Keep an eye on the events tab for events all Spring and Summer long!

I have two events to celebrate Sweeter off the Vine in New York this week, and I would love to see you all there.

Wednesday, April 6, 6:30-8:30pm

West Elm Market Brooklyn, NY

New York friends, please join me at the launch party for Sweeter off the Vine! We'll have treats and snacks, and a glass of something bubbly, all donated by my friends at Fresh Direct. Come say hello, I'll also be giving out hugs and hi-fives! Books available for purchase. please rsvp.

Saturday, April 9, 1-3pm

Whisk Brooklyn, NY

Book Signing, plus treats!

And I couldn’t leave you all without a little recipe to use your new orange supremes, if you haven't eaten them already. This granita is super easy to throw together and so stunningly gorgeous. It is bitter and sweet, tart and cooling. Granitas are a wonderful, light dessert, and they look beautiful with some supreme citrus on top.

Blood Orange and Campari Granita

makes about 3 cups

The bitter, herbaceous notes of Campari play so nicely with sweet/tart blood oranges for a light and refreshing dessert that is super easy to make. Substitute Aperol for the Campari for a slightly sweeter treat.

2 cups water, divided

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice

1/4 cup Campari

orange supremes to serve

Add one cup of the water and the sugar to a saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the remaining water, blood orange juice, and Campari. Transfer the mixture to a glass baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and freeze. Every 30 mins or so, scrape the surface of the mixture with a fork until it is completely frozen. Serve with supremes of citrus fruit on top.

blood orange, almond, and cornmeal cake | apt 2b baking co

When Liz Prueitt (of Tartine fame) shared a couple of photos of a blood orange, cornmeal, and ricotta cake on Instagram - along with a short form recipe in the caption, I just couldn’t get it out of my head. Turns out Deb from Smitten Kitchen and Amelia from Bon Appétempt were drawn to this recipe too, for good reason. To be honest, I almost didn’t add my voice to the chorus evangelizing for this delicious cake, but I just got the photos back from the lab and the cake was too pretty not to share.

I also made a few small changes to the method that streamlined it a bit – this was mostly because I didn’t feel like separating the eggs and folding them into the batter (a kitchen task I avoid whenever possible!), so I added the whole eggs instead. I figured the finished batter was already pretty thick and heavy from the ricotta and almond flour that the small amount of additional air that step would provide would be pretty inconsequential.

The finished cake is dense and rich, punctuated by slightly bitter candied orange slices, and totally delicious. Prueitt described it as cheesecake-like, which is totally on the money. I can't wait to try this with blueberries and stone fruit in the summer.

Blood Orange, cornmeal, and ricotta Cake

adapted from Liz Prueitt who adapted from The River Café Cookbook

This cake is dense and moist, almost custard-like in texture. Make sure to slice the oranges very thin so they soften and caramelize a bit while the cake bakes.

Topping

2 blood oranges scrubbed and cut into very thin slices (I used a couple of cara cara slices too)

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

2 tablespoons water

Cake

1/2 cup (100g) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup (170g) whole milk ricotta

zest and juice of 2 lemons

1 cup (135g) almond meal/flour

1/3 (45g) cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 300ºF. Butter a 9-inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper. Butter the paper too, then dust the pan and paper with flour. Stir the water and sugar together, then spread it on the bottom of the prepared pan. Arrange the orange slices in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.

Cream the butter and sugar together with the lemon zest until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds in between each addition. Then beat the mixture for 5 more minutes. Beat in the ricotta and lemon juice.

Stir in the almond meal, cornmeal, and salt. The batter will be very thick.Spread the batter over the orange slices and bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then invert it onto a platter.