Blood Orange Posset

Blood Orange Posset may not the sexiest of recipe names I know, but this is a really tasty creamy dessert that is so simple to make.

It is a seasonal variation on the more familiar lemon posset and uses juicy blood oranges to give it a delicate flavour and pretty, peachy orange, colour. But can be made all year with other varieties of oranges, each will give the dessert its own characteristics.

Ingredients

Blood orange posset is made with just three ingredients and requires no special equipment.

• Oranges – for this posset I have used blood oranges
• Caster sugar - I like to use golden caster sugar in my cooking but white caster sugar can also be used
• Cream – Use double cream (US = heavy cream) for this recipe. I have not tested with cream substitutes.

What is a posset

Originally a posset was a hot British drink of thickened milk curdled with wine or ale, often spiced, which was popular and used as a cold and flu remedy. Over time, this has evolved and nowadays posset usually refers to a dessert made with thickened cream, similar in taste and style to a syllabub. The cooked cream is thickened (curdled) with the addition of citrus juice, most commonly lemon or lime. 

You can also make this dessert with orange juice. Last year I played around with the recipe making it with blood orange juice and loved the result.  The blood orange gave the possets a pretty pinkish peach colour although the colour will vary depending on how red the blood oranges are.

Blood Oranges

Blood oranges might not have the nicest sounding name but they are well worth seeking out during their limited season.  They acquire their name from the vivid red colour of their flesh and have a similar flavour as traditional oranges with subtle, almost raspberry like, tones. 

The season for blood oranges is limited because these varieties of oranges need a particular weather pattern to produce the change in colour.  It is thought that the effect in these Mediterranean fruits is triggered by the drop in temperature during the night, after a warm winter's day.  

The colouring is due to the presence of anthocyanins - compounds that give many other fruits and vegetables their red, blue, or purple colours.

Blood oranges can vary from having a few speckles of red throughout the fruit to all the flesh being a deep red.  To me, one of the joys of eating this delicious fruit is that you often do not know just how red it will be until you peel open the orange and break into the flesh.

Sometimes the dark colouring is seen on the exterior of the rind as well depending on the variety of blood orange.

When are blood oranges in season?

The season varies from year to year but in the UK it generally starts around December and continues until late spring. In general, I find them easiest to find in January and February, although if you are lucky you may be able to tuck into your first one of the season a couple of weeks before Christmas.

When in season you will find blood oranges in most good supermarkets and greengrocers.

In addition to their amazing taste and pretty looks, the anthocyanins found in the fruit are thought to help prevent cancer and heart disease, so what are you waiting for. Search these little beauties out now, they are good for you.

Serving suggestions

You can serve these blood orange possets on their own but, as with most creamy desserts, they are delicious served with a crisp biscuit. I served mine with these orange and almond shortbread biscuits. 

For a dinner party at home, they look pretty served in small glass dishes decorated with slices of blood oranges. But sometimes I serve them in little lidded pots as this way they are easy to transport.

Blood oranges are not in season can I still make this dessert?

If blood oranges are not in season you can make them with regular oranges but I like to add a tablespoon of lemon juice to add a little extra flavour. The colour of the dessert will be a pale orange with less of a pink tinge.

How to make Blood orange posset step by step