Blorange...Blue and Orange blended!

If anyone was to ask me what my favourite colour was, I'd instantly say 'cobalt blue'...but that's not strictly true because if I think about it a little more, I realise I like a wide range of blues such as aqua, turquoise, robin egg, sky, royal blue, sapphire, indigo, teal, baby blue, Persian blue, navy, peacock, electric blue...hmm the list grows the more I think about it. So maybe I should answer the question by just saying my favourite colour is 'blue'! 

On the other hand one of my least favourite colours happens to be orange. Now I really feel for orange because it's never done anything wrong or ever offended me...it's just we don't have that same connection that I have with blue. 

I'm afraid it's not only the colour...I don't like to eat oranges or drink orange juice!

Why? I cannot say...I just don't! Never have....

So when Jenn over at Just Add Water Silly chose 'BLORANGE' for this week's Artist Play Room  

I had mixed feeling. I mean my favourite colour mixed with my least?!?! 

How was this going to work?  

It's like asking my son to become friends with the hoover (vacuum)! It's a tough ask!

But who's going to refuse Jenn? Certainly not me...

So after a little procrastinating (I'm a natural) I dived right in to see where it would lead....

I'm aware I'm probably playing with your mind here (Mmmmwwwaaaahhhhhhaaaa) but I have to admit it it was rather fun. I thought I'd make the orange blue perhaps just a twist on the 'blood oranges' (with their red flesh) which by the way just happen to be my hubby's favourite.

I also took it one step further by mixing the blue actually with orange, for the leaves and the shadow. 

I'm not sure why but this photo is nothing like the original. 

The original has such an intensity that I prefer, but the above looks rather anaemic. :-( 

Maybe it's orange getting its own back on me for being so unkind.

I thought I might feel differently if an orange happened to be a blue colour, but I'm afraid I still don't like oranges no matter what colour they are....oh now I feel I've got a personal vendetta against the poor defenceless fruit. Shame on me!

Have a great day everyone and I hope to see you again soon...I'd miss you if you didn't pop by

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I wanted to quickly mention Featuring magazine to you all...

It's a great mag for Mixed Media artists and it is starting a subscription service with the next issue... head on over to some of these links if you are interested in checking it out...

website

 http://www.featuringmagazine.com

you can buy issue 3 here

 http://www.featuringmagazine.com/archives/product/featuring-magazine-issue-3

or read what people have to say about it...

 http://www.featuringmagazine.com/testimonials

Chocolate and Orange Cake

As promised I finally got to baking today. I know I've been very remiss lately and believe me there have been grumblings from within the ranks. But that's all sorted now.....as we speak my son is yet again helping himself to a hefty portion.

I had numerous oranges spare and have always had a liking to Chocolate Oranges - the kind that you "tap and unwrap" - so I decided to make a cake which combined the two. I came across a Nigella Lawson recipe for a flourless chocolate orange cake, which I thought sounded pretty good and as we all know Nigella can certainly deliver on the no fuss, but incredible, delectable goodies to devour at leisure.

The easy way the ingredients are all sqwished in the food processor certainly made me feel I was cutting corners but the result was superb. So easy!

I made a few adaptions along the way and added melted good quality chocolate over the top and drizzle down the sides.

It was so moist and beautiful with a dollop of Crème Fraiche

I have to tell you this was one of the easiest cakes I've ever made and the result was perfect.

Here's the recipe......

Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake 

1 Large Orange (or 2 small)

6 Eggs

1 heaped teaspoon of Baking Powder 

1/2 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of soda

200g of Ground Almonds

250g of Caster Sugar

50g of good quality Cocoa

As a variation you could always add a few drops of Cointreau into the orange mixture!

Method

1.Put the oranges in a saucepan with cold water and bring to the boil before reducing the heat. 

2. Simmer for two hours or until soft. 

3.Drain the water from the oranges and set aside to cool.

4. When cool cut the oranges in half and remove any large pips.

5. Grease a 20cm spring form baking tin and preheat the oven to 180 degree's C (350 F)

6. Pulp the oranges in a food processor before adding the eggs, baking powder, bicard of soda, almonds, sugar and cocoa.

7. Process all the ingredients together until you have a smooth batter but not too much. You should still have a batter flecked with oranges.

8. Pour the batter into the baking tin and bake for 1 hour.

9. Check the cake after 45 mins as you may need to cover it with foil to prevent burning before the cake is cooked all the way through.

10. Let the cake cool in the tin before removing.

11. Most important point......ENJOY! =D