It’s mid of April and yes we all have those juicy oranges lying in our fruit baskets waiting to be relished in the heat and humidity of the summer months. Who doesn’t love those sweet oranges? Haven’t we grown up on orange bars and those orange ice lollies that made for such a great treat post-school every day? There’s something about oranges which instantly refreshes our souk and as the cool juices fell on our tongue it’s almost like a spell of dewiness that repairs our worn-out body against the harshness of the hard-hitting sunshine.
We all know that oranges are a great source of vitamin C and this vitamin C is the one thing that can help our body heal from damages of the skin and body cells like a miracle. They say that if you have eaten an orange every day of your life since a kid, be assured you are never going to fall sick and you will delay your aging process by 15 years. Yeah, that’s no story, it’s the truth!
Read the below to know how Oranges help:
- If you want to have a healthy vision and avoid cataract and wearing glasses at any given point in time, have an orange daily.
- If you want to remain away from hemorrhage, heart attacks, etc never missing on your daily consumption of orange is the key.
- Oranges have a lot of fiber and slow down the digestion of food helping you to stay fuller for a long time…So now you know what you have to do in order to lose weight, right?
- An orange a day keeps cancer at bay!…..remember that
- Oranges are a must if you want a glowing, wrinkle-free skin for the longest time.
- Oranges not only repair your skin but repair your internal body as well. So for healthy and strong bones, teeth, and blood vessels, etc. have an orange every day!
My inspiration behind this recipe was a single piece of tangerine (English orange as you say) in my fridge!! Yes, you heard it right!! During a lockdown, things indeed get crazy and you realize those essential fruits which you never had a shortage of, may indeed be lying in one’s or two’s in your kitchen. I wanted to gobble up that tangerine because it was that beautiful orange color and I knew just how naturally sweet it was. But then, that urge to cook something out of it just won over! I thought of combining some fresh herbs with the tangerine but of course, I didn’t have any fresh herbs with me. Orange and any kind of fresh herbs make a perfect pairing and are indeed great to be relished together. Any in case you don’t have them, never opt for dried herbs, that won’t do the trick.
I decided to go for cinnamon here, cinnamon and orange are a delectable combination. Even according to Ayurveda, this combination works best on the human body to balance a lot of doshas. But of course, my sole focus here was on the taste and not the Ayurvedic perspective. This recipe is also quick, not consuming those long hours on weekends as well when you want to enjoy something mouth-watering but at the same time want to cozy up in your bed and watch back to back movies. I made it on a Friday night, perfect timing! And then Saturday was all about relishing cups after cups of this. Who says, bliss isn’t in small things?
One suggestion I did like to make – Just add a few drops of vanilla essence here coz nothing works like vanilla essence in killing the foul smell of eggs or a bad aftertaste. Don’t add much because that would interfere with the orange flavor. Just a few drops will do the magic here! If you see lumps being formed in the last stage, just take it off the gas and keep stirring continuously pressing the lumps till it all becomes smooth. You need to refrigerate the pudding for a minimum of 3 hours. Remember that! Also, I used white sugar here to retain the color. You can use honey or brown sugar as well. Just to help, you can add white sugar and add a few drops of orange color at the last to get that orangish color that you can see in all the photographs.
This recipe can also be developed into a mousse. Of course, there will cream, eggs, and gelatine there depending on the way you choose to make the mousse. As of now, go ahead, put that music on, grab that whisk, squeeze that orange juice and splash some on your tongue, grab a lemon drink and just make a dazzling pudding this weekend.
As I say, happy cooking friends!
RECIPE:
This is an unusual take on a classic dessert. As a presence of elegance, it is just the perfect dessert when you are having a formal dinner party or you want to enjoy a sweet something while watching an English classic…it’s actually a fine take on an English dessert!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp orange juice
Freshly whipped cream, for garnish
Chocolate shavings for garnish
Method:
- Combine two cups of milk, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium saucepan over moderate heat to just below a simmer. Keep stirring and let this be on simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Whisk together 1/2 cup milk with cornstarch and egg in a medium bowl until no lumps remain. Gradually pour heated milk into a bowl, whisking constantly.
- Now transfer pudding mixture back to the pot. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly with a spatula, until pudding thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in orange zest and juice, rum, and cook for one minute longer.
- Transfer pudding to small custard cups. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or until set. To avoid a skin forming on top of the pudding, cover surface with plastic wrap.
- Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkles of chocolate shavings.
