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Sunshine is blazing through my windows, brightening my world and making me smile. And even if it wasn’t a sunny day, I’d still feel bright as I have finally managed to buy some blood oranges.
Blood oranges, like quince, are one of those things that I have had real difficulty tracking down in recent years. But, after my triumphant purchase of a tray of quince last year, my luck seems to have changed. I managed to buy four juicy blood oranges at Sainsbury’s this week!
As you can see my blood oranges weren’t incredibly red. I had expected garnet juice to start flowing as soon as my knife sank into a fruit. But… not so much. Maybe some varieties are redder than others? While my oranges may not have fooled any vampires into taking a bite, they definitely produced juice that was more red than orange.
It’s hard to describe what blood oranges taste like. They’re still orangey, but yet different. More of a floral flavour, if that makes any sense? It was such a beautiful and unique flavour that I decided that the best way to showcase it would be in a sorbet, letting me show off the colour, too.
Sorbet is so easy to make, especially if you have an ice cream machine. Citrus sorbets are the easiest of all to make as you just need freshly squeezed juice, sugar and a tiny bit of vodka if you’re not planning to serve the sorbet straight away. Even if you don’t have an ice cream machine, and mine is on its last legs really, it isn’t difficult to make. You just need to tip the mixture into a shallow tub, freeze and whisk every 30 minutes or so until you have a mixture which is too stiff to whisk any more. (An immersion blender works really well for this, but even a fork will do.)
Once churned, the sorbet lightens by a few shades and becomes a gorgeous sunset red and keeps all of its unique flavour. Every spoonful is bright, refreshing, citrusy and floral. Sunshine food.
It’s a shame that blood oranges have such a short season, but that just makes them even more special when you finally manage to lay your hands on them. Well worth keeping an eye out for!
***
I was thrilled to discover last week that Maria of The Goddess’s Kitchen had nominated me as one of the inaugural recipients of her new blog award: The Adorable Blog Award! Thank-you so much, Maria!
The rules of the award are as follows:
- Include the award logo in your blog or post.
- Nominate as many blogs which show adorability, cuteness and charm.
- Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
- Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.
In return, I would like to award The Adorable Blog Award to the following:
Ivonne of Cream Puffs In Venice
Ellie of Kitchen Wench
Christy of 5 Types of Sugar And Other Treats
Alicia of Bread & Honey
Aran of Canelle et Vanille
Veron of Veronica’s Test Kitchen
Blood orange sorbet
Source: David Lebovitz
* 350ml blood orange juice (I got this from 4 juicy oranges)
* 70g caster sugar
* 2 teaspoons vodka
Put sugar in a small saucepan and add just enough juice to saturate the sugar. Heat gently until all the sugar has dissolved. Add the orange syrup back into the rest of the orange juice and chill thoroughly.
Churn in your ice cream machine then transfer to a sealable container and freeze until firm enough to scoop. Or follow the still-freezing method given above.
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Superb Angela! I adore blood orange and I missed making a sorbet out of them this past season. Yours looks magnificent!
Thank-you, Lorraine!
I was really thrilled with how well it turned out and have resolved to do more with blood oranges next year. I didn’t manage to find any until season’s end and now my head is full of all sorts of ideas for them. Which, of course, I can do nothing with until next year!!!
Yum! What a gorgeous sorbet. I just recently got an ice cream maker and I’ve been experimenting with different sorbets…this one sounds really yummy.
Thank-you, Sara! I love making sorbets, especially as they’re so diet-friendly
My ice cream machine has died, so I’ll be returning to whisking like mad for the moment until I spot one on sale.
Yum, yum, yum! Great photos- I think we need to take advantage of the last few days of blood orange season.
Thanks for the recipe!
-Siri
I am a fool for blood oranges. To me the flavor is floral with vague notes of grape, mmm delicious. Lovely photos.
oh i LOVE blood oranges… they so hard to get in the UK I find, so i will rush to sainsbury’s tomorrow in the hope of still finding some!
i have tried the blood orange juice and even the better brands just taste awful – you really need to make your own!
Good luck, Johanna! I hope there are still some on the shelves—I’m never quite sure when the season ends. And isn’t it interesting how blood oranges are one of the few fruits to still have a definite season??
Gorgeous sorbet and lovely blog!!
Congrats!
M
Thank-you, Marta! I hope you’ll drop by again
I love your blog! I look at it very often and wish I could make the dishes but they look a bit hard for me.
Anyway, can you answerr a couple of cookery questions for me.
Sometimes a recipe just says “flour” without saying if it’s plain or SR. I assume that if the recipe contains Bicarb of soda then you use plain flour.
Does it matter if ever you use SR instead of plain? I know it would matter if you did vice versa.
For crumbles, is SR better than plain? I have good recipe books by famous chefs and even they don’t agree.
My crumbles are always soft, whether I use plain or SR. How do I get a nice, not crunchy, but ust a little bit of resistance, topping? I have thought of making the lumps bigger by stopping crumbling before the mixture becomes like dust but I’m afraid I’ll just get lumps of melted butter.
Have you tried that magic carpet cake liner from Lakeland? Do you find it makes the cakes a lot greasier cos it traps all the fat and if so what would you suggest I do about it?
I found some blood oranges in the supermarket today so made the sorbet when I got home. It was yuuuuummy. hubbie loved it too.
Wow, you were lucky to find blood oranges this late in the season! I’m so pleased that you both liked it
This looks like such a beautiful sorbet. Nice photos
My girlfriend is juicing blood oranges as I type getting ready to try your recipe. We are quadrupling the recipe however because we eat a lot of sorbet. Here in Southern, Ca the local farm that grows blood oranges just started selling them again. They are in season from Febuary to September. I have a couple friends in different parts of the US I send them to. I’ll link them to your recipe.
Hi Shawn! I hope you all enjoy the sorbet! I am so envious of your long blood orange season—over here they only appear in the shops for a couple of weeks.
I really love those oranges…your sorbet looks so refreshing
I’ve been looking for a good use for blood oranges that I’ve been seeing at my grower’s ranch! This is perfect!
I love sorbet. What a beautiful colour this one has. Yesterday I had a rubarb sorbet which was divine!
Mmm, I love rhubarb sorbet. It has such a great colour if you buy the early forced rhubarb!!