Citrus Season

Living in Florida is wonderful, especially this time of the year. I am very blessed to have many friends and neighbors with an over-abundance of wonderful citrus that they are willing to share. I love the intense citrusy flavor of orange zest. That being said, one of my favorite types of citrus is the kumquat because you eat the whole thing: zest, peel, pulp, seeds, etc. I’ve seen many people try to peel them to eat the sour fruit inside. Surprisingly, on the kumquat the peel is the sweet part.

I love the flavor of chocolate and orange together so I sometimes make chocolate covered kumquats. To make them rinse and completely dry a few ripe kumquats. Carefully press a Popsicle stick into the stem end of each one. Dip each kumquat into your chocolate of choice (I prefer semi-sweet) then place on parchment or wax paper until chocolate is set. Enjoy within 24 hours of making or refrigerate.

It is surprising that many people have not ever tried fresh squeezed orange juice (and I don’t mean from a bottle that says “fresh squeezed”–bottled juices are normally pasteurized and the heat they apply in that process changes the flavor). Enjoy the luxury of squeezing your own orange juice if you have access to fresh sweet oranges. You can also make an Orangeade by substituting sour orange for the lemon juice you would normally use in lemonade.

Sunshine Scones

Scones are very similar to biscuits but often have a little sweetness that makes them seem more like a treat. The orange zest really makes these delicious but be certain that you use organic oranges and a variety with a very thick skin, like the navel orange.

Many people think a scone has to be cut into a triangle. That shape is fine but so are circles and hearts.

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup cold unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 TBSP finely grated orange zest
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 TBSP fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2 TBSP sanding sugar

Preheat your oven to 425° F. Whisk sugar and zest together. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter into teaspoon size pieces; add to flour mixture, and with pastry blender or two butter knives. mix until it resembles fine meal. Whisk in sugar mixture then stir in milk. Flour work surface; turn out dough and work quickly–knead only about 10 times (if you work the dough too much the biscuits will be tough).

Roll to ½” thickness and cut into circles with 1 ½” circle cutter or shape into a large circle and cut into wedges. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with orange juice and sprinkle with the sanding sugar.

Bake about 12 minutes until golden brown on top. Serve warm with butter.