Tag: citrus

¡Olé! ¡Oleo Saccharum!

Oleo saccharum sounds like it belongs on a dusty apothecary shelf, christened with an antiquated Latin name and sealed up tight. While it’s true that the technique was created centuries ago in the heyday of medicinal potions veering curiously close to the realm of witchcraft, this is one concoction that’s every bit as welcome at the bar today. Calling it “syrup” like any other plain sugar solution does a disservice to the full bouquet of flavor found within. Oleo saccharum tastes like fruit that has given up its very soul into a sweet, glossy elixir.

What is Oleo Saccharum?

Oleo saccharum predates cocktail culture and even refrigeration itself. Made from scraps, it was a thrifty way to prevent waste and preserve citrus flavor long after the fruit itself had vanished from the market.

Literally meaning “oil sugar,” oleo saccharum is osmosis in action. Granulated sugar and citrus peels, not the fruit or juice itself, are always at the foundation. Sometimes that’s all it is, other times, anything from fresh rosemary to sliced jalapenos could be invited to the party. Over the course of one or two days, without any further intervention, the crystalline sweetener liquefies, infused with the pure aromatic essence locked inside the zest. What you’re left with is a syrup that tastes brighter, perfumed rather than sharp, ideal for making balanced yet bold cocktails.

How to Make Oleo Saccharum

Use a vegetable peeler, not a microplane, to slice wide ribbons of zest with as little white pith as possible. Toss them with an equal amount of sugar by weight and roughly muddle to release the essential oils. Then, all you have to do is cover and wait. By the next day, the sugar will be damp. By the following, the peels will be fully submerged in the thick, sticky liquid. Strain out the solids, pressing to reclaim every last drop, and store the syrup in the fridge for the greatest longevity. It should keep for anywhere from 1 – 3 months.

Ingredient Cheat Sheet

When you want to experiment with different additions, consider the following, but bear in mind that citrus (lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, etc.) should always take up the bulk of the solution. Add complimentary flavors sparingly:

Fresh Herbs

  • Rosemary – piney, savory, unexpectedly elegant with grapefruit or lemon
  • Thyme – subtle and grounding; great for cocktails and glazes
  • Basil – fresh, green, almost floral with orange or lime
  • Mint – bright and cooling, especially nice with lime or lemon

Florals

  • Lavender – extremely potent, a little goes a long way
  • Rose petals – romantic and soft, especially with orange
  • Orange blossom water – citrus squared, but gentler

Spices

  • Vanilla bean – instant dessert energy
  • Cardamom pods – citrus’s best friend, especially with lemon or orange
  • Cinnamon sticks – cozy, round, and familiar
  • Pink peppercorns – floral warmth without aggression
  • Coriander – lemony and nutty
  • Fennel seed – sweet and licoricey, great with orange peel
  • Juniper berries – ideal for pairing with gin cocktails

Wildcard Accents

  • Cacao nibs – bitter chocolate perfume, great with orange
  • Coffee beans – a few crushed beans add depth and roastiness
  • Cucumber peels – light and refreshing
  • Sliced jalapeños – sharp, bright heat

Sugar Swaps

  • Demerara or turbinado sugar – deeper molasses notes
  • Palm sugar – earthy, complex, and faintly smoky; excellent with mezcal

I’ve also heard tales of swapping out the citrus base for things as wild as banana peels and apple peels, but you’re on your own with those experiments.

Where Oleo Saccharum Shines

Oleo saccharum is a bartender’s best friend, perfect for using instead of less potent simple syrup, but that’s far from the end of it. beyond cocktails, consider:

  • Mixing into mocktails
  • Brushing on cakes before frosting
  • Whisk into vinaigrettes
  • Blend into ice cream or sorbet bases
  • Sweeten pudding, mousse, or even oatmeal

Oleo saccharum is an old fashioned antidote to modern waste. If you, too, can look at a pile of discarded peels and see potential instead of trash, oleo saccharum is for you. Extracting every last drop of life from what we usually throw away makes the transformation all the more gratifying. Anyone with a bit of sugar and patience can pull off such a feat. All you need to do is get started.

Hannah (BitterSweet)4 Comments

Lemon Law

How could something so ambrosial as a lemon get such a bad rap? “When life gives you lemons,” it’s implied that you have a whole lot of something unwanted. If you get a car that’s a lemon, you’ve just purchased a shiny new piece of junk. Tangy, sour, sharp, and bright, perhaps these early phrases come from eaters unprepared for such a blast of bold flavor. Lemons are the key to balancing out dishes both sweet and savory, adding contrast and depth with a floral softness that straight vinegar can’t match. If I could only have one citrus for the rest of my life, I would choose lemons, hands down.

Lemons have a way of making everything they touch simply taste better. They can play the sidekick or the hero with equal grace, playing well with just about any ingredient it meets. Though typically harvested during the cooler months, it’s a perennial staple, effortlessly bridging all seasons.

Lemons have a quiet power; think of how a splash of juice can wake up a dull sauce, how a pinch of zest can invigorate a salad, or how a sweet lemon syrup can turn a humble cake into something gourmet. It’s these little touches that remind us just how much these sunny citrus fruits can do.

With that in mind, I’ve pulled together a roundup of my lemon recipes, celebrating its full range, from zesty mains to crave-worthy desserts, and a few unexpected delights in between. Whether you’re a citrus enthusiast or just looking for something new to try, these ideas are sure to brighten your table.

Continue reading “Lemon Law” →

Hannah (BitterSweet)4 Comments

Look Out for Lemons

Heads up!

If you’re not paying attention, there’s a real danger of being pummeled by falling fruit while walking the city streets of Berkeley. Woven in among the cozy cafes and compact apartment buildings, fruit trees flourish, exploding with fragrant citrus fruits that rain down like hail on the unsuspecting passersby below. Streets are littered with lemons, oranges, and other unidentified flaxen orbs, as if a fruit cart had overturned on its way to market. Some shatter upon impact, hemorrhaging precious sweet nectar in a macabre spray, but many others remain perfectly intact, perfectly viable for salvage.

Like any other compassionate cook, I’ve taken it upon myself to rescue any forlorn fruit. Given the conditions, you could understand why my fridge is overflowing with citrus, particularly Meyer lemons, which land in my direct path on the way to the bus.

Best practices for managing the surplus is expeditious disassembly, before they have time to spoil. Zest and juice all fruits, freezing liquids in ice cube trays and solids in little baggies. I’m not much for canning, but I like to think of my freezer as an icy pantry, extending the life of these abundant sweet and sour gems for later days.

Thrifty and measured as I am, don’t think for a minute that some of this gracious surfeit hasn’t been used for more immediate gratification.

Crisp, lightly sweetened shortbread cookies come to life with the bright acidity of fresh lemons, which also plays off the natural bitter edge of raw cacao nibs. Though undeniably buttery, their richness comes entirely from olive oil, adding a complementary grassy, peppery undertone. Irresistibly adorable spoon molds make them the ideal shape for dunking, but a regular old round cake pan will do the trick for simple, standard wedges.

Even if the urban landscape isn’t quite so generous in your locale, now is the time to enjoy citrus of all shapes and sizes, so stock up!

Yield: 16 - 18 Cookies

Lemon-Cacao Crunch Shortbread Cookies

Lemon-Cacao Crunch Shortbread Cookies

Crisp, lightly sweetened shortbread cookies come to life with the bright acidity of fresh lemons, which also plays of the natural bitter edge of raw cacao nibs. Though undeniably buttery, their richness comes entirely from olive oil, adding a complementary grassy, peppery undertone.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Confectioner's Sugar
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Cup Cacao Nibs
  • 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 325 and set out (but do not grease) a spoon-shaped baking tray or a 9-inch round springform pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, and the salt. Add in the cacao nibs and toss to coat with the dry ingredients.
  3. Separately, mix the oil, lemon juice, and zest together before pouring the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry. Stir well to combine; you may need to use your hands, as it's a very thick, stiff dough.
  4. If using spoon molds, fill each indentation about 3/4 of the way to the top, pressing firmly to make sure there are no gaps. For a springform pan, gather the dough into one large ball and press it flat and even across the bottom. Score into thin wedges with a sharp knife.
  5. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
  6. For cookies baked in a springform pan, they may need to be re-scored at this point and baked for another 5 minutes, depending on spread and color.
  7. Let cool completely in the pans.

Notes

Both unbaked dough and finished cookies keep well in the freezer. Baked cookies keep for 2 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

18

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 135Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 31mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 2g
© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies and Bars

Hannah (BitterSweet)13 Comments

Citrus Twist

Click the photo above to view full size. If it brings a smile to your face and you’d like to enjoy it as your desktop wallpaper, right click the large version, select “Set as Desktop Background,” and choose the “Stretch” option to fit to your screen.

Stay warm, my friends, and have a bright, tangy, and sweet weekend!

Hannah (BitterSweet)4 Comments

Dazed and Infused

After making a list and checking it thrice, there was nothing left to chance for my extended stay in Hawaii. Everything was accounted for, from sunscreen to snacks to strobe lights, with a dozen backup batteries in between. Even so, that sneaking suspicion that something had been forgotten stayed with me, like a single dark rain cloud in an otherwise pristine blue sky. Some people worry about leaving the lights on, neglecting to take out the trash, or forgetting to lock the doors, but me? It was only when I decided to extend my stay for a second month that I realized I forgot about something very precious in the fridge.

Climoncello. Yes, you read that right: Limoncello‘s clementine cousin, a byproduct of enthusiastic citrus consumption and an inability to throw any viable foodstuffs away. Tearing through my immense stash in record time left countless peels in my wake. Compost seemed like a cop-out for these highly aromatic remnants, especially when they still had so much flavor left to give.

All it took was a bottle of inexpensive vodka to set the creative wheels in motion. Elevating some undrinkable swill and making the most of my citrus windfall in one fell swoop, it was a perfectly elegant solution. Let the concoction steep for a few days, perhaps a week, and my work would be done.

But there it sat, in the darkened corner of the fridge, while I was living it up in a tropical paradise thousands of miles away. Only when one month became two did I realize my oversight, but little could be done at that point. At worst I would return to a rotting, revolting mess of liquid garbage, so I prepared myself for a potentially unpleasant cleanup effort.

Eternally forgetful but incredibly lucky, it turned out the the extra time didn’t hurt my orange-y brew one bit! Preserved by the alcohol and sugar, those scraps looked as good as new, entirely intact yet spent of their fragrant essential oils. Even if the Pacific Ocean wasn’t standing in between this project and me, I wouldn’t dream of letting it stew for a shorter time now.

Climoncello

Climoncello

Turning trash into treasure, clementine peels transform plain vodka into a bold, citrus-spiked mixer.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 3 months
Total Time 3 months 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 14 – 15 Clementine Peels
  • 3 1/2 Cups Water
  • 2 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
  • 1 (750-ml) Bottle Vodka*

Instructions

  1. Place your peels, water, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook just until the sugar has fully dissolved. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid, and let cool to room temperature. Use a pestle (or any other blunt instrument, really) to mash the rinds around a bit, bruising them to release more of the essential oils. Pour in the vodka, give it a good stir and transfer the whole mixture, peels and all, into a large glass jar. Seal the lid tightly and stash it in a cold, dark place for about three months. Don’t rush it! If anything, you’re likely to get even greater flavors if you let it steep for an extra month or so.
  2. When the climoncello is ready, the liquid should be a golden orange color and smell of sweet oranges. Strain out and discard the peels, and transfer the liqueur to an attractive glass bottle. Store in a cool, dark place for however long you can make it last. It should keep indefinitely, but you’ll no doubt want to enjoy it before too long.

Notes

*Don’t waste the good stuff on this, since you’ll be covering up any unsavory notes with your citrus infusion. Just stay away from firewater like Everclear, and you should be golden. I used Popov, for what it’s worth.

© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: Italian / Category: Beverages

Hannah (BitterSweet)17 Comments

Oh, My Darling Clementines

Like clockwork, I’m right back at my usual tricks again, infusing every morsel that crosses my path with a bit of edible sunshine while the real thing plays hard to get. Grapefruits, oranges, lemons, and limes are always close at hand, spilling out of the refrigerated fruit bin and lining the kitchen counters, decorating these dark spaces with a cheerful spray of neon colors. Their natural luminescence does wonders to lift spirits through the most gloomy of days, but it’s truly the bold, bright, astringent flavors that sustain me through winter. This year, I’ve added a new comer to that line-up of faithful fruity regulars: The petite yet powerful clementine.

Luck was on my side this season, as the kind folks representing Cuties Clementines were generous enough to ship an entire crate full of these glowing orange orbs straight to my door. Not to be overly dramatic, but what a revelation! Gone are the days of meticulously picking at the stringy pith of oranges before the segments become edible. The skin practically falls off of these juicy half-moons, nary a seed in sight. No muss, no fuss, they’re the ultimate winter pick-me-up. Naturally, they’re a boon to desserts and other treats as well.

Citrus supremes are a beautiful addition to all sorts of desserts, but they’re such a pain to prepare. Thanks to a combination of dull knifes and insufficient handiwork, mine always end up ragged, sad little slivers of their former selves; certainly nothing to crown a grand finale with. Clementines, on the other hand, pop out of their peels ready to use, unblemished and the ideal size to toss into just about any dish. Simply layering them with plain old soy yogurt, sliced almonds, and berries elevated my boring lunchtime routine into something worth remembering.

Bursting with flavor, sweeter and more mellow than an orange but still plenty punchy, clementines sounded like the ideal pairing with matcha. Cutting through the bitter powdered tea and balancing out the whole dessert, segments top chewy tapioca pearls, cradled in the easiest mini tart shell you’ll ever slap together. No need to break out the rolling pin, this crust is merely pressed into the pans and won’t slip or slide under the heat of the oven, standing tall without the need for pie weights.

Winter, you have officially met your match; the bright taste of these Cuties makes a day without sunshine no big deal.

Yield: Makes 10 – 12 Tartlets

Clementine and Matcha Tapioca Tartlets

Clementine and Matcha Tapioca Tartlets

Bursting with flavor, sweeter and more mellow than an orange but still plenty punchy, clementines sounded like the ideal pairing with matcha. Cutting through the bitter powdered tea and balancing out the whole dessert, segments top chewy tapioca pearls, cradled in the easiest mini tart shell you’ll ever slap together. No need to break out the rolling pin, this crust is merely pressed into the pans and won’t slip or slide under the heat of the oven, standing tall without the need for pie weights.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Additional Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 55 minutes

Ingredients

Press-In-Pan Olive Oil Pastry Crust:

  • 1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
  • 1 – 2 Tablespoons Water

Matcha Tapioca:

  • 1/2 Cup Small Tapioca Pearls
  • 2 1/2 Cups Vanilla Coconut Milk Beverage or Plain Non-Dairy Milk
  • 1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
  • 1 Tablespoon Arrowroot Powder
  • 2Teaspoons Matcha Powder
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Vegan Butter
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

To Finish:

  • 4 – 5 Clementines, Peeled and Segmented
  • Fresh Mint Leaves (Optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease 10 – 12 (3-inch) mini tart molds.
  2. To make the crust, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add in the olive oil and lemon juice, stirring thoroughly to incorporate. Drizzle in the water very slowly, adding just enough to bring the dough together without making it wet or sticky. Break off about 2 – 3 tablespoons of dough for each mini tart mold and press it evenly across the bottoms and up the sides of the forms. Make sure there aren’t especially thick edges left around the base so that it all cooks at the same rate.
  3. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through the process to ensure even baking, until golden brown all over. Let cool completely before popping the shells out of their metal molds.
  4. For the tapioca, begin by pouring 2 cups of very hot water over the pearls and allowing them to soak for at least 2 – 3 hours. This will soften them and prevent the centers from remaining after cooking. Rinse with cold water and thoroughly drain.
  5. Place the soaked pearls in a medium saucepan along with the non-dairy milk. Whisk together the sugar, matcha, cornstarch, and arrowroot in a separate bowl to break up any and all clumps of the tea powder before adding it into the pot as well. Set over medium heat on the stove and allow the mixture to come up to a boil, whisking periodically and being sure to scrape along the sides and bottom to prevent anything from sticking and burning. Once it comes bubbles vigorously for a full minute, turn off the heat before throwing in the vegan butter and vanilla extract. Stir until the butter has completely melted and distribute the hot pudding between the baked mini tart shells, filling them to the top.
  6. Allow the tapioca to fully cool before topping with clementine segments and a few mint leaves, if desired. Serve at room temperature or chill for 2 hours to enjoy them cold.

Recommended Products

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 260Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 146mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 1gSugar: 16gProtein: 3g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimations.

© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: Fusion / Category: Pies and Tarts

Hannah (BitterSweet)40 Comments