Orange Baked

Well, not exactly bake it. you can give the flavor of this amazing winter fruit to you baked goods.
It seems that we have a never ending supply of citrus fruits this time of the year and just keep munching away. Imagine how much orange peels we throw away and I can't even give it to my worms (it is not recommended). Its a shame that we get rid of all these essential oils. Sure some people make marmalade and there are a lot of recipes out there and Succade aka candied orange peel. However, I do not think that a lot of people will go through the trouble even though it only seems to be complicated and really is not so.
Here are couple of my recipes where I successfully used orange in baking.

Orange and Cashew Biscotti

3 eggs

1 c sugar

1/2 stick of melted and cooled butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbl sp orange juice

1 tsp baking soda

orange zest from 2 oranges or approx 2 tbl sp

3 c sifted flour

1 1/2 c cashew nuts

Mix ingredients adding them one at a time in the same order they are written but start with only 2 cups of flour. I use my Kitchen Aid. Soft dough will form. If the dough is looking a little to tough subtract amount of flour or may add couple more spoons of orange juice, if the dough is little to soft add little more flour.

I turn the dough on the silicon mat and using the mat form it into a log.

Bake the log in the middle of the oven at 300F for approx 50 min. It may crack on the top and will widen as it bakes. Once out of the oven cool for 10 min or so, then slice on a bias 1/2 inch thick slices.

Place bake in the oven cut side down for another 15-20 min to dry.

Here I added some drizzled chocolate for decoration.

Biscotti will keep in a airtight jar for up to 2 weeks, if it survives that long.

On the same note I decided to make an orange bread or loaf.

Orange Loaf

4 eggs

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 c oil
6 oz yogurt of sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbl sp orange juice

1 tsp baking soda

orange zest from 2 oranges or approx 2 tbl sp

2 c sifted flour

1 c cashew nuts

1 c of raisins (optional)

Mix ingredients adding them one at a time in the same order they are written.

Oil 2 loaf pans pans or large bunt form and transfer the batter to the  pans.

Bake at 350F for approx 40 min. Check at 30 min mark. It ma take up to 50 min total baking time. Check for readiness with a toothpick inserted into the highest part of the loaf. If the batter sticks to the toothpick, bake for another 5-7 min.

I use a fantastic tool for removing zest from the citrus and for grating Parmesan cheese so fine it resembles snow. Very useful tool - microplane grater/zester!