Lemon & Grapefruit Curd

With Ramadan fast approaching, we are committed to sharing as many recipes with you as possible.  Whether you’re fasting or not, these recipes are easy to make ahead and fuel you for the day. Today’s recipe is a lemon and grapefruit curd, which is delicious on toast, hot cross buns, or even as a tart filing. Best of all, it is free of any refined sugar!

A word about grapefruit, admittedly it’s not the most popular fruit in our boxes, but it has so many health benefits it’s still important for us to include! To begin with, a grapefruit contains the average adult’s full daily vitamin C requirement. Several studies have also shown numerous other benefits such is helping with weight loss, boosting immunity, and fighting cellulite. We’re pretty sure even if you’re not a grapefruit lover, you’ll love this curd as a healthy alternative to your usual jam.

Come back soon for our Ramadan recipes! One of our favorites is an apricot and orange granola bar free of sugar, corn syrup, wheat or canola oil. Next time you’re in the grocery store check the ingredient list of the granola bars on the shelf and you’ll realize just how much better is to make these on your own.

Lemon & Grapefruit Curd
(makes 1 cup curd)

Lemon & Grapefruit Curd

 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • ¼ cup lemon juice from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ¼ cup grapefruit juice from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ½ cup honey
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 eggs
  • Pinch of salt
  • 6 tbsp ghee

METHOD

Lemon & Grapefruit Curd

  1. Place a small amount of water in a saucepan on medium heat. Let the water simmer but not boil.
  2. In a glass bowl mix the lemon juice, grapefruit juice, honey, egg yolks, eggs, salt and ghee. Whisk until combined.
  3. Place the bowl over the saucepan creating a bain-marie.
  4. Continuously stir the mixture until it reaches 76 degrees C. If you don’t have a thermometer just keep stirring until the mixture thickens. This will take up to 10 minutes. It may seem as though it will never thicken, however, at the point where the eggs are cooked it will suddenly thicken and this is when you’ll know it’s ready.
  5. Pour the mixture through a sieve to strain out any lumps and chill.
  6. This curd can be used on toast, hot cross buns, as a tart filling or poured over a vanilla cake.

Energy February: Upside-Down Orange Cake

If you’ve been following our blog this month, you’ll know we’ve been focusing on foods that can help you boost your energy levels. Choosing your ingredients carefully is the difference between the right kind of sugar, carbohydrates, and fats, which boost your energy levels and the wrong kind, which will leave you feeling tired and hungry a short time later.

Our last recipe of the month is an upside-down orange cake. Many people love to eat cake mid morning or mid afternoon as an energy boost when they are hitting a low. However, traditional cake made with flour and sugar is high glycemic which means it will spike your blood sugar levels quickly and sharply, however, make you feel tired and hungry later in the day. This cake made with almond flour and maple, is much lower on the glycemic index and will be sure to satisfy your sweet tooth without playing havoc with your blood sugar levels and appetite. 

If you’ve received blood oranges in your box this week, we recommend swapping out the oranges for blood oranges in the recipe for a stunning finish!

Upside-down Orange Cake (one 20cm cake)

INGREDEINTS

  • 3 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 3 tbsp grass fed butter 
  • 1/3 cup (65g) ghee/butter
  • 1 ¾ cups (175g) almond flour
  • ¼ cup (30g) arrowroot flour or any gluten free flour blend
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup (120ml) maple syrup/honey
  • 2 tsp vanilla powder/extract
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 2 Oranges from the fruitful day box

METHOD

Upside-down Orange Cake (one 20cm cake)

  1. Preheat oven to 165 degrees C. Grease or line a cake tin and set aside.
  2. Zest the oranges and then slice into 1cm slices. Cut the peel off each slice leaving a slither of the pith to hold the orange together.
  3. Heat the coconut sugar and butter in a pan on low heat until the sugar is melted. Pour this mixture into the bottom of the prepared cake tin and spread evenly.
  4. Arrange the orange slices over the butter and sugar mixture.
  5. In one bowl mix the almond flour, arrowroot, salt and baking soda.
  6. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and in another bowl mix the yolks, maple syrup, melted ghee, vanilla, lemon juice and orange zest.
  7. Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer or kitchen aid until they form soft peaks.
  8. Mix the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture and then fold in the egg whites.
  9. Pour this cake mixture over the oranges in the cake tin.
  10. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Check the cake after 8 – 10 minutes and cover if it has began to brown. As soon as you see browning you need to cover for the remainder of the cooking time.