More crowd pleasers!

Crowd pleasers – with “comfort” thrown in, hints and tips too to make life easier.

Russian Fish Pie – a reminiscence

This recipe takes me back – to my school days – now I've refined it into a treat or even a dinner party dish!

Russian Fish Pie is not your everyday dish, it's a treat. Recent research shows me that it is very similar to Coulibiac – also Russian in origin. The original pie consisted of cod in a stiff parsley sauce placed in the centre of a puff pastry square, glued with egg wash and brought together to form four triangles all in one. My preference is to use a mornay sauce and to use a variety of fish.

Here's my version :

Russian Fish Pie

Serves 4

1 x 500g packet of puff pastry

Pre-heat oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4

Approximately 500g of mixed fish –

smoked cod loin, salmon, and prawns.

¾ pint/450 ml milk

¼ pint/150 ml cream (you don't have to use

cream, increase to 1pint of milk if preferred)

salt, 8 black pepper corns

bay leaf

50g unsalted butter

50g plain flour

1 tsp Dijon or wholegrain mustard

150g (75g each) Red Leicester and Mature Cheddar cheese, grated

Roll out your pastry into a large square (approximately 24cm x 24cm) and place on a non stick (or greased and lined) baking sheet.

Poach your fish in the milk and cream, season with salt, black peppercorns and bay leaf on a medium heat for 5/10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Remove the fish, flake, allow to cool and set aside in a large bowl. Strain the liquor.

Melt the butter and add the flour to form the roux and cook for 2/3 minutes then gradually add the poaching liquor and cook the sauce on a low heat for about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens (it should coat the back of your spatula) add grated cheeses and mustard. The sauce should be stiff. Set aside to cool.

Tip half the sauce over the flaked fish, add the prawns and fold gently so that all your fish is coated. Reserve the remaining half of the sauce to pour over the pie.

Using a slotted spoon place the mixture in the centre of the pastry. Egg wash the edges and pinch together to form 4 triangles in a square. Egg wash the completed pie and bake in the oven for 40 minutes – check after 30 minutes. Cut into 4 individual triangles and serve.

Russian or not it's really moreish and the portions are generous so think carefully about what you would serve with it – a spot of fusion as an idea – a winter coleslaw I think would go very well – the rich pastry and filling with a crispy, crunchy fresh slaw – you could even kid yourself that it's healthy – ish! In reality it's about as far from Russia as you'll ever get. The recipe probably came from Coulibiac – a Russian dish consisting of salmon, rice, mushrooms, onions and dill encased in pastry.

Notes :

I always make more mornay sauce than required for the fish – it's an indulgence to have extra to pour over the pie.

An optional extra is to add chopped hard boiled eggs.

If you are using cooked, peeled prawns don't add them until you are mixing your sauce with your cooled cooked fish.

The pie fillings – the fish pie

This recipe is flexible – deliberately using a key ingredient already baked, from your stash of ready cooked baked potatoes. You can make the sauce ahead and bake the fish too, enabling you to pull each element together without effort!

Fast Fish Pie

Serves 4

2 large baking potatoes – stab carefully with a

paring knife, wrap in foil and bake for 1 hour at

180fan/200c/Gas 6 – already done!

Set aside to cool then slice thinly – skin on or

off – personal choice

500g of fresh fish, wrapped in foil and baked for

15 minutes

If you want to cook ahead you could bake your

fish for the last 15 minutes of your potato baking

time – don't forget to use your timer!

Cool the cooked fish and then place in a sealed

container ready to use

Your fish can be a mixture of whatever you choose – for example, mix smoked haddock or cod with salmon and prawns – it's whatever floats your boat – pardon the pun. If you're using cooked peeled prawns as part of your 500g of fish then don't add them until you're assembling your pie.

Next up the sauce for your fish :

Mornay Sauce

Serves 4-6

40g unsalted butter

40g plain flour

600ml of milk – I use semi skimmed

150g mature Cheddar cheese

(or a combination of Cheddar and Gruyere)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and black pepper

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. Cook gently for a minute, stirring and add the mustard – make sure you don't brown the mixture. Gradually add the milk whisking constantly and eventually bring to the boil, whisking until it's smooth and thick. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then add the cheese and season. I'd taste before you add salt – there's salt in the cheese – adjust accordingly. Your sauce should be a stiff consistency.

You can make the sauce ahead, fridge or freeze.

Assembly, plus hints and tips up next …

Fast Fish Pie – assembly, plus hints and tips

When you're ready to assemble, preheat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

You can use foil trays – 24x24cms to serve 4 or smaller if you want individual servings, otherwise a square casserole.

Open up your foiled fish and tip it into a large mixing bowl. Break the fish into chunks, gently, then season with black pepper.

If you're using cooked, peeled prawns, now is the time to add them – if you're using frozen prawns make sure they are properly defrosted in the fridge and discard any defrosting liquor.

There will be jelly from the cooked fish – discard or include – it's all flavour and will combine with the sauce you've made. If you've not used any smoked fish then you may want to add a sprinkle of salt. Add your Mornay sauce and fold to mix, gently.

Tip the mixture into your tray or casserole.

Add the sliced cooked potatoes, add a knob or two of butter and ground black pepper. If you're feeling really decadent then sprinkle grated Parmesan over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with vibrant fresh veggies, preferably steamed or, dare I say, with a coleslaw or, if feeling really Northern, mushy peas!

A final word on fish.

Some may say it's extravagant to use cod loin in a fish pie – they'd be right. However if you're trying to convince your family to eat fish it would be a good idea to use a fish that doesn't have any bones. Using smoked fish with non-smoked gives a far less “fishy” taste. Shop smart if you can and a reminder that Aldi's range of fish – including cod and haddock loin too – is excellent and the best value. The trick here is the delicious strong cheese sauce. Tick, tick and tick!

Oh and by the way the Dijon mustard is optional but it does give an excellent zing so worth a try even if you're not a fan of mustard generally. It adds flavour without blowing your head off.

My final tip - each of the elements for this filling and the pie as a whole can be made ahead, all that remains is assembly, and whilst I probably shouldn't be advocating eating supper in front of Netflix all that's required is a deep bowl and a fork – delicious comfort food!

Dust off your slow cooker for delicious melt in the mouth chicken pie filling!

One of my old favourites – slow cook a

whole chicken – an “instant” mid week roast

and leftovers too

If you're serving four as a main then you'll get sufficient

chicken left to use for a soup

If you're serving two as a main then you'll get sufficient

chicken left to make a pie filling or shredded chicken

in pasta and a sauce using the stock

Check out the bargains and deals – you'll usually find a chicken! Rocket science it ain't but if you want to make the most of your good deal with a chicken then let the slow cooker take the strain and do the cooking for you - that's two massive ticks!

Slow Cook a Whole Chicken

1 chicken – between 1.5kg – 1.75kg

1 chicken stock pot

2 tsps of garlic paste or 1 garlic stock pot

generous sprinkle of oregano or garlic

Italian seasoning

Alternatively use two whole star anise in the cavity

and omit the herbs

Place your chicken in the slow cooker and mix the stock pot with the garlic paste and spread over the chicken. Sprinkle with the herbs or add the whole star anise to the cavity and omit the herbs. Switch your slow cooker to the low setting and leave it for 8 hours.

Strain the stock and freeze the resultant liquid gold, strip the chicken, keeping aside what you need and then bag and freeze the remainder.

One thing is for sure, slow cooking a whole chicken means you get the best value and you'll use every morsel – it's the perfect food!

The Pie

Here's the result :

Chicken & Mushroom Pie

2 x slow cooked chicken breasts and/or

a mixture of leg and thigh meat -

400g in total, diced and placed in

a large bowl

250g chestnut mushrooms

Sauce Supreme – using your

chicken stock

Sliced cooked baked potatoes – 3 medium size

skin on or skin off, whichever you prefer

salt and black pepper and a dot or two of

butter

Preheat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Ensure that your chicken and stock have been taken from your best friend (the freezer) and fridged overnight.

There are only two elements to cook – the mushrooms and the sauce.

Heat a medium sized frying pan, slice the mushrooms and sauté with 50g of unsalted butter adding salt and black pepper. Turn the mushrooms – they'll produce water and the idea is that you use a high heat to reduce the liquid. Add a glug of dry sherry or red wine and reduce again. The sherry or wine enhances the flavour of the mushrooms. Whilst I'm at it don't be afraid to use mushrooms that might be past their “best before” date. They have more flavour.

Your sauce recipe :

15g unsalted butter

15g plain flour

½ tsp Dijon mustard

200ml double cream

salt and black pepper

Melt the butter, take the pan off the heat, add the flour and whisk. Return to the heat and cook out the flour for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously making a roux sauce – do not walk away.

Tip your cold stock straight into the roux and whisk until smooth, then cook on a low heat for 30 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

Add the mustard and the cream and simmer for 5 minutes.

You can make the sauce ahead and freeze it if more convenient – it's every bit as good from the freezer, leaving only the mushrooms to sauté on the day.

You have choices for your pie lid. I'm using the potatoes you already have in your fridge from the “whilst I'm at it, I might as well” applied principle.

You could use the ever popular puff pastry sheet, again taken from your freezer stash. A third option would be to use the 3p topping from The Tickle Tray, Panko crumbs, Parmesan and Parsley.

Add the mushrooms to the chicken and then fold through the sauce. Pour the filling into a casserole measuring 23x23 cms approximately or, in my case, a foil tray - layer the sliced potatoes over the top, add a little salt and pepper and a dot or two of butter. Place in the oven for 25 minutes and serve.

Feedback and photos on their way.

here's the topping

… “the chicken pie was to die for … sublime … and lovely”.

Definitely worth adding to your culinary repertoire – keep it simple or zhuzh it by serving in individual pots as a main course for a dinner party – complicated it ain't!

The ultimate comfort food

There's nothing that says “comfort food” like a home-made pie – no matter what the weather! Here's a selection to choose from.

The pie plan!

You can cook this ahead – the steak and kidney was slow cooked on Thursday, cooled, bagged and fridged, ready to pull together for Saturday.

To make life easier, here are the recipes for both pie fillings – first up :

Steak and Kidney Pie filling – serves 4

1kg/2.2lbs braising steak or stewing steak, cubed

275g/10oz lambs kidneys, diced

glug of rapeseed or Canola oil

2 x Knorr beef stock pots

2 heaped tbsp tomato paste

2 cloves of roasted garlic or fresh crushed garlic

salt and black pepper

You'll need a pie dish measuring 23x23x5cms/9x9x2”

Brown and season the steak in a large frying pan, using a drop of rapeseed oil – do this in small batches – if you don't you'll get grey looking meat, it will take ages and it will stew. Using a slotted spoon pop the browned meat into the slow cooker. Toss the kidneys in a little plain flour then brown in the frying pan and add to the steak in the slow cooker.

Dissolve the stock pots, gently, in the residual pan juices, then add the tomato paste – make sure the paste is properly melted and “cooked out” - if you don't do this you'll have a bitter taste. Add a glug of water to the melted stock pots and the tomato paste, stir well to combine, repeat until your pan is two thirds full. Bring to the boil and then tip – carefully – into the slow cooker. The “gravy” should cover the steak and kidney – if it doesn't top it up with boiling water. Slow cook for on low for 4 hours. If your gravy is too thin – it's personal choice - add a little slaked cornflour and thicken to taste. If you decide to thicken the gravy then I'd take the steak and kidney out of the gravy before thickening. It might seem a bit of a faff but it's worth it – the meat won't break up.

Set the slow cooked steak and kidney aside and fridge until you're ready to roll.

The pie plan - Cheese, potato and onion filling

It's no surprise that both these pies already figure on the blog – what I suppose it shows is their popularity – it's the simple things in life.

This filling is easy peasy, just three elements all of which can be made ahead, bagged, boxed and then fridged!

Cheese, potato and onion filling

Serves 4

4 medium sized baked jacket potatoes, peeled

and cut into cubes measuring 1.5cms/½”

approximately

2 medium onions, finely diced and

sautéed with a knob of unsalted butter and

a drop of rapeseed oil until softened – 5 minutes

add 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard to the onion

300g of grated cheeses – 100g each of Mature

Cheddar, Red Leicester and Gruyere

Black pepper

you'll need a pie dish – measuring 23x23x5cms/9x9x2”

foil or ceramic – ceramic if you're serving at the table

Using a large mixing bowl add the potatoes, onions and mustard – season generously with black pepper. Fold in the cheeses.

Both the pie fillings benefit from being made a couple of days ahead and then fridged until you're ready to complete.

All that remains is the pastry!

The pastry and the photos

As always you have “lid” options – for me it has to be puff or flaky pastry – here's my usual recipe if you want to make your own.

You will need a batch for each pie :

Fast flaky pastry

150g of unsalted butter – chilled in the freezer

220g plain flour

pinch of salt

8 tablespoons of ice cold water

Plan ahead - before you begin weigh out your butter, wrap it in foil and put it in the freezer – 30-40 minutes. Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. You'll need a cheese grater on stand-by. Remove the butter from the freezer and fold back the foil – it's easier to control when you grate the butter into a heap in the middle of the flour and salt. You can dip the butter into the flour to stop any sticking.

Using a round bladed knife mix the butter into the flour and salt. Sprinkle four tablespoons of water into the pastry and mix well. Add another four tablespoons and continue to mix. Finally use your hand to bring together – you're aiming for a clean bowl so no bits of pastry left in the bowl. Have a sheet of cling film ready – you can now use both hands to mould the pastry into whatever shape you require. Place on the cling film and wrap.

Rest the pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes before use or place the cling filmed pastry in a bag and freeze.

On a lightly floured surface roll out your pastry – dust your rolling pin too. Roll out as evenly as you can turning the pastry as it takes shape – always roll backwards and forwards and quarter turns so that it keeps to a circle. If you roll side to side you'll stretch the pastry and it will shrink when cooking!

Tip the filling into the pie dish. Egg wash the rim of the dish and then gently lift the pastry lid on top of the filling. The egg wash will glue the pastry in place and you can press the lid onto the filling gently. You can use a sharp knife to remove any excess pastry then, using a pastry fork edge the pie. Egg wash the pastry and add two cuts in the centre of the pastry to vent the pie.

Bake in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 40 minutes. I'd check after 20 minutes and turn the pie dish so as to give an even colour. It depends on your oven but I've found that even with new fan ovens the baking isn't always evenly browned.

There's always a plan B – cheat – buy puff pastry sheets – 320g x 2.

Here they are :

Yum!

Double yum!

Then there's “Sally's favourite … Homity Pie”

I normally make Homity Pie for special occasions – my recipe serves 12-16 depending on the size of slice! I decided to make the same amount of pastry but scale down the filling – I freeze the remainder for another day – here goes :

Sally's Homity Pie – makes 2

Pastry

200g plain wholemeal flour

100g unsalted butter

pinch of baking powder

ice cold water to bind

Rub the butter into the flour and baking powder until it resembles breadcrumbs, then gradually add a glug of water and use and round bladed knife to bring the pastry together.

You can use a processor if you prefer – I'd then tip the pastry directly onto clingfilm and bring it together to form a ball, then wrap and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Ahead of the game

Bake 3 large jacket potatoes, then cool, peel and dice finely

and place in a large mixing bowl

250g onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic – finely chopped or roasted

paste

1.5 tbsp rapeseed oil

salt and black pepper

2.5 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley – 1.5 tbsp for the

filling and 1 for the topping – use less if you are

using dried

150g of grated cheese – I use a mixture of mature

Cheddar, Gruyere and Red Leicester – 100g for the

filling and 50g for the topping

Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil, add to the potatoes and season with salt and black pepper. Add the cheese and parsley, mix thoroughly.

Roll out your pastry and line a greased pie dish measuring 18x14x4 cms (7x5½x1½”) .

Tip your potato mixture into the pastry case and pack it down tightly and flat – it will look as if you'll never get all the filling into the case – persevere – you will succeed.

Top with the remaining cheese and parsley.

Bake in a pre-heated oven – 190fan/170c/Gas 7 for 40 minutes – check after 20 minutes.

Next up … the pie dishes

Sally's favourite Homity Pie – the dish

I wouldn't normally use a foil pie dish, in the interests of recycling and climate change et al but when I do I re-use them. However in this case the “pie dish” needs to be easy for Sally – easy to place on a baking sheet in and out of the oven – there's nothing more frustrating in recovery when you can't handle a container because it's too heavy – as light as possible and practical is the key.

With that in mind I sourced this dish :

a dish fit for purpose! 

with the pastry lining

and then the filling 

cooked and ready to eat!

More crowd pleasers to come ...

Editor's Pick #12: Goosegogs …

Editor's note: I feel it is worth mentioning that I now remember the first time this was posted. At the time, I loved the "goosegog" name - I hadn't heard it before. I hope those of you reading this will get the same enjoyment. Here's the original first piece for halloumi fries to accompany the goosegog sauce. 

Goosegogs …

… or gooseberries if you prefer – it's like Marmite – you either love 'em or hate 'em. Surely one of the most popular puds is gooseberry crumble?

The trouble is that it's not a long season. To add to the confusion, we've actually had a summer, so far at least, in the UK and it really has messed up what's in season and what isn't.

Traditionally gooseberry sauce goes well with mackerel – the sharpness of the goosegogs with the oily fish is perfect.

How about Halloumi fries with a goosegog dip?

To save you searching :

Halloumi Fries

500g Halloumi cheese

85g plain flour

1 tbsp seasoning of your choice

vegetable or rapeseed oil for shallow frying

I used a small wok 28cms in diameter. I used rapeseed oil - just enough to cover the base of the wok - 13cms in diameter.

As a guide – 225g of Halloumi will give you 18 or so strips 1.5cms cut lengthways. For the coating, combine the flour and seasoning in a box with a lid – secure the lid and give it a good shake.

Once you have opened the cheese pat it dry with kitchen roll – cut into strips, pat again and then coat in the seasoned flour. Heat the oil to 190c – test with a small piece of bread. Fry in batches, turning, for 3 minutes, set aside and keep warm.

Editor's Pick #11: Goosegog sauce

Editor's note: Some of my favourite posts from the archives include the historical tidbits to go along with the usual fantastic recipe and this one is no different. Being from the UK myself it's sometimes easy to forget that not everyone speaks the same parlance if you will. As usual, MiamMiam delivers where I forget! So, enough waffle, read on for an ultra-versatile sauce, good hot or cold, sweet or savoury.

Goosegog sauce

This is a really easy sauce. You can serve it hot or cold – hot I think is preferable if serving with the fries. Cold works well if you're tipping it over ice cream.

Goosegog sauce

340g goosegogs

cold water to cover

55g unsalted butter – divided into

25g (melted) and 30g

Top and tail the goosegogs and wash well. Place in a medium size saucepan (18cm diameter) and just cover with cold water – do not drown! Cook the fruit gently and when it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until tender. Drain the fruit – you won't need the liquid. Mix the drained fruit with a melted knob of butter – 25g. Tip the fruit into a sieve and press through, use the back of a wooden spoon to help. Discard the remains in the sieve and tip the fruit into a clean saucepan. Add half a teaspoon of caster sugar and the remaining 30g of butter. Warm gently to dissolve the sugar and melt the butter.

Useless bits of information that you might find interesting!

In the UK cookery books, particularly of a certain age, you come across terms like “add a knob of butter” - I know what I'd add but it occurs to me that there may be someone out there who is kind enough to read this, who won't know.

A knob of butter is approximately 25g. I say approximately because it does not have to be exact as it would be if you were baking which, as we all know, is an exact science. If you look at the goosegog sauce recipe, the butter is used to enrich the sauce so a gram either way will not spoil your efforts.

Whilst I'm on the subject here's another term - “add butter the size of a walnut”. The last time I saw I whole walnut was last Christmas! You won't be surprised to learn that these terms go back to the 1850s. It may be of course that walnut trees were quite common then. Anyway butter the size of a walnut is approximately 30g.

Hey, you never know when this stuff might come in handy!

Editor's April Pick #10: Tuna and Parsley rolls

Editor's note: I could have sworn that I'd already singled this recipe out previously but after extensive research, I have not! My latest random food craving has been mustard of late, no matter what the meal or ingredients - within reason of course! Combine with tuna - without the mayo(!) - and add into that pastry... ticks all of the right boxes. Ps. You can never go wrong with poppy seeds or nigella seeds in baking.

Time on your hands - a variation on a theme …

Most of us have tuna in our store cupboard – are you bored by the same old tuna pasta bake?

I've used the following recipe for years and it never fails. I have used it as a canapé to serve with drinks and known friends who “don't like fish” inhale them. They are also great as a snack or with other stuff for a weekend “picky bits” grazing style supper.

Here it is :

Tuna and Parsley rolls

200g/7oz tin tuna in oil

1 onion, chopped

100g/4oz cheddar cheese, grated

2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

salt and black pepper

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 puff pastry sheet

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp poppy seeds

or Nigella seeds, see below

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6

Drain the tuna, reserving 1 tbsp of the oil. Pour the oil into a pan and cook the onion for 5 minutes until softened. Remove from the heat and stir in the tuna, cheese, parsley, seasoning and mustard until well combined. Allow to cool.

Roll out your pastry sheet and cut in half lengthways.

Divide the filling between the two rectangles, laying it in strips down the centre of the pastry.

Brush one edge with beaten egg and carefully roll up to create two long tubes. Cut each into 12 rolls. Brush with egg and put on a baking tray. Sprinkle over poppy seeds and bake for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

You can make these rolls as large or small as you like, they don't have to be bite sized.

If you wanted an alternative to poppy seeds use Nigella seeds instead, also known as Black Cumin they have a delicious onion flavour and work well with this recipe.

This is an economical, easy but most of all tasty recipe and makes use of your store cupboard. If you're able to buy a puff pastry sheet, that's great – it's difficult to predict what will be wiped off the shelves at any given time. The fact that the sheet is a perfect emergency freezer item makes me think they may be as rare as hens' teeth – good luck and if you can't buy a sheet make your own.

Since none of us can guarantee what ingredients we're able to buy I'm going for both ends of the scale – something special and more cheap and cheerful ideas too – the common denominator - they use store cupboard items or ingredients you may have in your freezer … watch this space!

Editor's April Pick #9: Gateau a l'Orange

Editor's note: Having chosen a citrus based dessert last week, it felt unbalanced to leave it with just lemon being represented so allow me to re-present (ha!) the orange gateau. I read that word and immediately think luxurious cake! It's genius if you've run out of flour - it's always on a Sunday after 4pm too! 

 

Time on your hands … have you ever noticed 

 

… when you get the urge and have the time to bake a cake … you can't get an essential ingredient like flour! 

 

Here's my answer – bake a cake without. 

 

The following recipe is already on the blog – I make no apologies for repeating it – it's delicious and there are extra bits too. 

 

Gateau a l'Orange 

(Orange Cake) 

Serves 12 

 

2 medium oranges, preferably naval 

6 large eggs 

250g sugar 

2 tbsp orange blossom water 

1 tsp baking powder 

250g ground almonds 

 

Wash the oranges and boil them whole for 1 – 1½ hours or until they are very soft, or see below for a quicker method. 

 

Beat the eggs with the sugar.  Add the orange blossom water, baking powder and almonds and mix well.  *Cut open the oranges, remove the pips and purée in a food processor.  Mix thoroughly with the egg and almond mixture and pour into a 23cm cake tin – lined with baking parchment, preferably non-stick and with a removable base.  Bake in a pre-heated oven 170fan/190c/Gas 5 for an hour.  Let it cool before turning out. 

 

Believe me when I say that I stared at this recipe for years.  What put me off baking this cake was the boiling of the oranges for the time allotted, an hour and a half is too long for me watching oranges and it's so easy to become distracted - before you know it you have a burnt saucepan and the rest, as they say, is history. 

 

Where there's a will there's a way - instead of boiling the oranges, microwave them for 8 minutes on high. 

 

Pierce the oranges with a paring knife – carefully and microwave for 4 minutes then turn and repeat.  Make sure your fruits are in a covered vented microwave container.  Continue with the recipe marked * as above. 

 

A useful tip.  Microwave the oranges ahead of making the cake so that they can cool, it will be much easier and safer to prep them, ready to pulverise. 

 

Extra bits up next …