Finger Limes - Citrus Caviar - Citrus Pop Rocks - Lime Boba

Finger Limes - Citrus Caviar - Citrus Pop Rocks - Lime Boba

Recently, Frieda's Produce sent me some Hatch New Mexico Chiles (see my post for Pork Chili with Hatch Chiles) and they threw in a carton of organic Finger Limes. They are described as citrus caviar. I had no idea what they were talking about...until I cut one open. As you can see, amazing little bubbles of lime emerge from this tiny lime.


See how the pulp comes out!!! My first short video (19 seconds) on YouTube.

One early morning, I was putting together my healthy afternoon snack in my new LunchBots divided tin and I grabbed a couple of these finger limes (I digress, but I love this little tin...I'll have to do a post on my many lunch containers). I cut them in half and threw them in the tin.

Fast forward several hours and I open the box. I immediately realize why these are called Citrus Caviar! The pulp comes out of the lime like little boba bits or pop rocks. It's so amazing. You squeeze them and it all comes out!

A quick Google search says that the LA Times talked about them back in 2009 (David Karp's article), but I must have missed it. KCRW's Good Food talked about them in 2010 (Nov 13, 2010 episode). Frieda's will be bringing them to grocery stores soon.

My snack photos above are from Instagram. I pulled out my macro lens tonight and shot a few photos. These limes are really small and so cute.

Originally from Australia and now grown in California, Finger Limes are described by Frieda's Produce as "tart, lemony-lime flavor with slight herbaceous notes." I describe them as "tiny lime bobas" and have a bit of rind flavor. They were little citrus bursts on my veggies, and I imagine they would be great in cocktails or atop a nice piece of fish.

Frieda's says the Finger Limes are coming to grocery stores soon. Be on the look out and ask your produce manager about them!

Disclosure: I received one free package of Finger Limes from Frieda's Produce. However, I was not compensated for this post and opinions are my own. I really am this enthralled with this citrus - and all citrus! I'm lucky to live in Southern California where we have so much citrus surrounding us (see California Citrus Tart)

Upside-Down Blood Orange Cake - NY Times

Upside-Down Blood Orange Cake

On my last trip to San Francisco, I lounged in my friend Sumi's beautiful sun-filled apartment reading the New York Times and drinking tea. I love vacations that include lots of lounging and napping. I came across this recipe for Upside-Down Blood Orange Cake in the New York Times, clippped it out and brought it home to make!

I made half the recipe and filled a 5" round pan. I didn't have the fine cornmeal called for in the recipe, so I tried processing some regular cornmeal. I don't think that made much difference (perhaps it was my small food processor), so next time I'll take awesome cookbook author Alisa Huntsman's @janeofmanytrade recommendation and get corn flour instead. It's so cool when I ask something on Twitter and a super nice pastry chef writes back! Alisa, totally owe you a bundt cake :)

I think there is nothing prettier than blood oranges. They are the sassy ones in the citrus family.

Recipe: Upside-Down Blood Orange Cake
From the New York Times Dining Section, Jan 16, 2013, D2

270 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons - divided), at room temperature
130 grams light brown sugar (about 2/3 cup)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I used a meyer lemon)
2 medium-sized blood oranges
122 grams fine cornmeal (about 1 cup) (I used regular cornmeal that I whizzed around in the food processor for a bit. I don't think that helped much...next time, I'm going to get corn flour)
65 grams all-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup)
8 grams baking powder (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
2 grams fine sea salt (about 1/2 teaspoon)
200 grams granulated sugar (about 1 cup)
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream (I didn't have any sour cream so I used some Greek yogurt)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan. (I made HALF the recipe and used a 5" round cake pan)
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter. Add the brown sugar and lemon juice; stir until sugar melts, about 3 minutes. Scrape mixture into bottom of prepared pan.
3. Grate zest from the oranges. Cut away the skin and white pith. Slice into 1/4" wheels, discarding seeds. Arrange oranges on top of brown sugar mixture in a single, tight layer. I cut some pieces to fit in the pan.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. In a bowl of a standing mixer, rub the sugar together with the orange zest. Then cream together 2 sticks (225 grams) butter with the granulated sugar. Beat in eggs, one a time, then beat in sour cream (or yogurt) and vanilla. Fold in the dry mixture by hand.
5. Scrape batter into pan over oranges. Transfer to oven and bake until cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, 40 to 50 minutes. (I didn't note how long I baked the 5" round cake - but check early). Cool cake in pan 10 minutes, then run a knife along pan’s edges to loosen it; invert onto a platter and cool completely before serving.

Golden Nugget Mandarins

Golden Nugget Mandarin Oranges

In addition to my well-known Bundt obsession, I'm fully admitting to a Citrus addiction as well. Well, at least scurvy ain't going to come into my life. I am full of Vitamin C.

In February, I wrote about the awesome Sumo Citrus or Dekopon tangerine. It is finally grown in California and completely rocks. However, it has a short season and is already gone.

I've been filling my citrus needs with Cara Cara oranges and plenty of Ruby Red Grapefruits. But then I went to the Hollywood and Palos Verdes Farmer's Markets and hit up Ken's Top Notch Produce stand. He had Cara Cara and some crazy ugly tangerine. He said they were fantastic and I tried a sample. They are sooo good! I said they looked like a Dekopon, but he said they were Golden Nugget Mandarins.

These Golden Nugget Mandarins are super sweet, seedless, easy to peal and delicious. I looked them up and they were developed the by University of California, Riverside Citrus Variety Collection. Nothing like SoCal developed mandarin!

Look at that bumpy skin! But the season for this citrus is also really short (Feb-April) so try to find these ASAP! - from your citrus obsessed Southern California girl, the Food Librarian

Blood Orange Cornmeal Cake (Everyday Food)

Blood Orange Cornmeal Cake

It's blood orange season. I love cooking with blood oranges because the color is so vibrant! However, I usually don't eat the blood oranges raw. My favorite citrus are the Cara Cara, Satsuma and this year, the Dekopon or Sumo Citrus.

This cake is super easy to make and you can use all types of citrus. I've used Cara Cara in the past and navels too. The cornmeal provides a nice texture.

I used several blood oranges and 1/2 a cara cara orange. The blood oranges are so pretty! The batter is super easy. Dry and wet ingredients combine with a whisk. No Kitchen Aid needed here.

Recipe:

Blood Orange Cornmeal Cake

Adapted from Everyday Food's Orange Cornmeal Cake

Printable recipe here

1 c sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 or 2 oranges
1/2 c olive oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 c orange juice (I used blood oranges and a cara cara orange)
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 c sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prep 8-inch round cake pan with butter or Pam spray.
2. In a large bowl, rub the zest with the sugar until fragrant and damp. Whisk in oil, eggs, orange juice until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, combing flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Don't overmix.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle top evenly with 1/3 cup sugar (topping will be thick). Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert cake gently onto a plate or parchment covered cooling rack (you'll lose some of the sugar topping). Reinvert cake onto a rack to cool completely. If you wish, you can serve with fresh orange segments.

Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins - Tuesdays with Dorie

Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins 

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Lauryn of Bella Baker Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins on page 7 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I used the zest and juice from a Cara Cara orange, juice from a blood orange, and a bit of juice from a Meyer lemon. In addition, Zante Currants were thrown into the mix. The recipe says 20 minutes at 375 degrees, but I think you should start checking at 15 minutes as my 20 minute muffins were a bit overdone.

Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their creations!

Recipe:
Lauryn of Bella Baker blog,
or, Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 7)

Sumo Citrus - Dekopon has finally arrived

The Sumo Citrus. It's long trek to California took years. And it was worth it.

My Thursday morning routine: Get home from a night of clubbing...sorry, I'm just laughing at that one. Okay, my exciting routine is to grab the Los Angeles Times from the driveway and reach for the Food Section. And guess what? As I discovered when buying this lovely piece of citrus, I'm certainly not the only one. Let me take a step back and first tell you a story that includes smuggling, cults, secrets and not drugs...but citrus.

The front page of the LA Times Food Section (Feb 17, 2011) had a beautiful photo of an enormous tangelo-looking citrus and a fantastic story. The Dekopon, developed in the 1970's in Japan, has finally made it to California.

In the first paragraph, author David Karp says, "I've tasted more than 1,000 varieties of citrus, and to me the Dekopon is the most delicious."  

You had me at citrus.

You really have to read the article. David has been searching and lusting after this citrus for 12 years. The development includes smuggling, budwoods cleansed of disease by something called the Citrus Clonal Protection Program, more smuggling and a "farming cult". Seriously, does it get any better that that?!

So, I had to get this citrus. I love, love California citrus. My dad's Meyer Lemon. The lovely, lovely Cara Cara orange. Blood orange drinks. Satsuma tangerines. Grapefruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can eat citrus all day.

The Los Angeles Times lists sellers, including several Japanese markets. After taking my dad to the DMV on Friday to get an ID (in case he gets carded ;), we stopped at a Nijiya Market. As you walk through the doors, there is a big old display of the Sumo/Dekopon! They have the LA Times article posted too! $1.69 EACH or $15.99 a box! Savor these babies. They had samples and we met a woman who read the article and came over to find them too! As my dad and I were leaving with our three Sumos, we saw a man walk out carrying two boxes of them. (Who said the newspaper's dead?!)

Called the Dekopon in Japan, the California growers are marketing them as Sumo Citrus (with the tagline: enormously good to eat!) The article says they rejected the name Tanzilla. I love that name!

And the taste? DELICIOUS. Very sweet. Firm and yet delicate. The membrane is really thin and doesn't get in the way. They are seedless and easy to peel too. I haven't had 1,000 varieties of citrus like David Karp, but darn, these are delicious. And I'm sure they will get better after their rookie season. Can't wait til next year's crop.

Read the article and find sellers here:
LA Times Food Section article (Feb 17, 2011)
Sumo Citrus (Grower's website)
Hear David Karp on my favorite show KCRW's Good Food where he talks about the Dekopon/Sumo.

P.S. Speaking of my love of citrus, next week justjenn and I are having Lemon Week on our blogs! :) Stop on by!

Blood Orange and Cardamom Upside Down Cake - David Lebovitz recipe

Blood Orange and Cardamom Upside Down Cake

I want to live near David Lebovitz.
And that doesn't mean he would live down the street in Los Angeles.
That means I would live in Paris.

Well, until then, I can make his ice cream and desserts. Here is an upside-down cake. Yes, I love the upside down cake (but not as much as the Bundt :)

David's recipe uses navel oranges, but I used all blood oranges. Oh, it is lovely California citrus time. Rock on! Melt butter, brown sugar and cardamom in a 10" skillet.

Layer your pretty citrus on the semi-cooled brown sugar layer.

The batter comes together quickly and is spread on the oranges. Bake for 40 minutes until golden.

On a side note, my Meyer Lemon Olive Oil cake was mentioned in the Los Angeles Times Food Section's blog, Daily Dish! How exciting is that?! And it's Thursday today Whoo hoo. Los Angeles Times Food section day.

Here are some other upside-down cakes:
Gingerbread Apple Upside-Down cake
Apple Upside-Down cake
Cherry Upside-Down cake
Los Angeles Times Meyer Lemon Upside-Down cake

P.S. It's my nephew's birthday today! 8 years old is a good year, Christian!

Recipe:
Adapted from David Lebovitz's Orange and Cardamom Upside Down Cake

Printable recipe here

David Lebovitz's recipe uses navel oranges, but he says in the notes that he has used a combo of navel and blood oranges. I only had blood oranges and used them.

Topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 medium-sized navel oranges, peeled and sliced in to 1/4-inch slices (I used blood oranges. I left one unpeeled and peeled the rest of them)
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (I used Penzy's ground cardamom spice)

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom (David's recipe calls for 1 1/2 t ground cardamom but I went for a smaller amount - personal preference)
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated zest of 1 orange

Whipped cream (I didn't serve mine with any whipped cream)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Center rack in oven.
2. In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, melt the butter and the brown sugar along with 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to set.
3. Overlap the orange slices in concentric circles over the topping. Each slice should overlap the other by half. I stuck the little end pieces on the edges of the skillet.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, and ground cardamom. In a measuring cup, combine the milk, vanilla and orange zest.
5. Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and thoroughly incorporate into batter. Scrap down sides of bowl as needed.
6. Stir in half of the dry ingredients, then the milk mixture. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients until just combined.
7. Pour batter over the oranges, even out with a spatula or knife and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes. Very carefully flip onto serving platter.

Calamansi and Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake (inspired by Barefoot Contessa’s Lemon Yogurt Cake)

Calamansi and Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake

Recently, Cheryl, the Children’s Librarian, brought in a basketful of the most adorable citrus fruit from her aunt’s backyard! Have you ever met the CALAMANSI? Oh, you should! They are petite, perfectly round and have a sweet and sour personality.

According to Alan Davidson’s The Oxford Companion to Food (2nd edition, 2006) (oh yeah, I’m pulling out the reference books now!):

Calamansi (or kalamansi or calamondin/kalamondin) is a hybrid of the mandarin orange and the kumquat. It is a small citrus fruit of the Philippines which plays an important role in Filipino cookery.

Aren’t these the cutest? They look like those little pumpkin candies – only these are real and have vitamin C!

Fresh from the Oven made cute loaves in November and recently, Butter & Sugar made an Orange Yogurt cake. Both took inspiration from the Barefoot Contessa’s Lemon Yogurt Cake.

I made a few changes to her recipe to use the Calamansi and Meyer Lemons. Click here for Ina's recipe!

This cake has a lovely crumb!

Dry ingredients, sifted together:
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour, 2 t baking powder, 1/2 t salt

Wet ingredients, whisk together:
1 c low-fat lemon yogurt from Trader Joe’s (because I didn't want to leave the house to get the whole-milk plain yogurt, which is actually hard to find - they all seem to be non-fat or low-fat. Next time, I might use Greek yogurt since I always have this around.)
1 c sugar
3 large eggs
2 t grated citrus zest (I used 1 t calamansi and 1 t meyer lemon)
1/2 t pure vanilla extract

After mixing the dry and wet ingredients together, fold in oil:
1/2 c olive oil (Ina uses vegetable oil, but I thought adding some Omega-3s would be a good thing!)

Ina uses a loaf pan and bakes it for 50 minutes (350 degrees), but I used a 9" round and baked it for 40 minutes.

Syrup:
1/3 c freshly squeezed juice (I had 80% calamansi and 20% meyer lemon)
1/3 c sugar
While the cake was baking, make the syrup by dissolving sugar in small pan with lemon juice. After the cake comes out of the oven, let sit for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and poke some holes in the cake with a toothpick. Pour or brush on the syrup.

Ina has a glaze of juice and powdered sugar, but I just dusted it with powdered sugar.

This cake is really delicious. It is light, very moist and wonderful for a breakfast or tea snack. As you can see by the many adaptations, you can make it any way you want. And now that there are lots of citrus around, there is no excuse for not making this!

Thanks Cheryl for introducing me to the wonderful world of calamansi citrus!

Citrus Pound Cake Mini-Loaves

I made some mini-loaves of pound cake from the Baking Illustrated cookbook (page 330). I added some lemon and orange zest to the pound cake recipe.

I'm getting tired catching up with my blog entries tonight (while watching Top Chef)...so I'll just say that I made them! :)

Although there is crazy lighting in this photo...this mini-loaf was cute. I love mini-things.