Time for a post. Time for dessert. Using possibly the best fruit of the winter season – blood oranges. NOMNOMNOM.

My new favourite city: New York. Even better: New York before Christmas. Not Thanksgiving though – because oh my is Black Friday crazy (I tell you – stay away from the shops or practice boxing before going in..). Anyways, NYC in the holiday season is truly magical – beautiful Christmas lights, ice rinks in central and bryant park, Christmas music playing in all cafe’s, millions of holiday markets, the Rockettes (hahahahahahaha), waaaay too much good food – what’s not to like? Ok, you Londoners are probably thinking – their Subway is disgusting – true that, true that, in comparison your Tube could almost be mistaken for Swiss public transport;-). One of the best experiences I had while meandering about the city was up north in Harlem. My mother would be proud – I went to church on Sunday – a Baptist church – WOW. Breathtaking. Amazing. If you love gospel music, don’t mind putting on your Sunday’s best and dare yourself to travel above 120th street it is worth the trip. It was something kind of like this: Enjoy. And if church doesn’t quite fulfil your expectations, why not head to the Red Rooster for a gospel brunch.

Blood Orange Mousse with Almond Brittle

adapted from greatbritishchefs

Serves 6

You’ll need

6 blood oranges, juiced
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
50g of caster sugar
250ml of double cream
4 sheets of gelatine
50-100g caster sugar for the almonds
50g of chopped almonds

1. Pour the blood orange juice into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce by half – you will need about 220ml of juice.
2. Soak the gelatine in cold water to soften. Once softened remove the gelatine from the water and squeeze any moisture out. Add this to the reduced hot orange juice, stir to dissolve and leave to cool
3. Whisk the eggs in a warmed bowl at high-speed until the volume has doubled. Add the sugar and continue whisking. Add this mixture to the cooled orange juice and gelatine and combine.
4. Whisk the cream until soft peaks from and fold into the orange mixture. Pour this mixture into a bowl, cover with cling film and chill for at least 3 hours before serving, allowing it to firm up.
5. For the brittle: caramelise about 50-100g of caster sugar in a frying pan. Once golden, stir in your chopped blanched almonds until coated with caramel. Spread out onto a plate and allow to cool. Once cooled, break into bite size chunks. I did this by hand, but you can also use a rolling-pin or an electric chopper.
6. Serve a generous scoop of the mousse topped with some brittle. Delish!

Rating: 7/10

It was good but could be more intense – maybe adding orange zest would help. Let me know!