Sliced Citrus with Orange Flower Water, Spices and Chocolate Shavings

Will you indulge me, please, and close your eyes, just for a minute? Now imagine a sunny afternoon in an orange grove, the light dappled, the breeze cool, the busy-ness of life a distance away. Reach up and grab a fat orange orb and break it off the stem. Feel its heft in the palm of your hand. Now scrape the skin with your nail and sniff as orange sweetness fills the air around you. Peel the orange with your hands, in one piece if you can! and cut slice it into juicy rounds.

I can't promise you an orange grove – but I can promise you an unforgettable dessert, sassy and sweet, even with just a tiny sprinkle of sugar. This is the quick and easy summer dessert recipe that's helping me give up processed sugar. Maybe it will you, too!

Citrus Slices with Orange Flower Water, Spices & Chocolate Shavings

This recipe is so quick and easy
that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes.
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Anyone noticed? Early in 2011, I quietly began to reshape the new recipes appearing on Kitchen Parade. Desserts are rare here now and it’s on purpose. If desserts are something we should enjoy “once in awhile” then that’s about how often dessert recipes should show up here, too.

It’s been a few months now. To be honest, I still miss baking and I still miss having something sweet at the end of the day. But it feels right to remove refined sugar from our diets and trust me, no one’s starving. ☺

The saving grace is fruit, so long as I don’t fool myself (and no one) by burying fruit in cakes and pies and quick breads and then labeling it virtuous eating.

In all its many variations, this sliced citrus tastes like the real treat it is, slightly tart, slightly sweet. The first inspiration came from Simply Recipes. We found Elise’s recipe a tad spare, so started adding little bits of taste and texture contrast, just stuff we had on hand. The first night we added chocolate shavings, whoa, what a night! I especially like toasted pistachios on grapefruit.

HOW TO CUT AN ORANGE FOR SLICES Here's a quick photo tutorial, How to Cut an Orange for Slices.

LOVE THE IDEA BUT WANT TO AVOID SUGAR ENTIRELY? Try Savory Orange Slices!

WHAT IS ORANGE FLOWER WATER (also called ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER)? Close your eyes and imagine water perfumed with fresh orange blossoms, fruity and fresh, sweet and seductive. That’s the essence of the clear liquid called “orange blossom water”. It is traditional in Middle Eastern cooking and French and Mediterranean desserts.

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences.

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SLICED CITRUS with
ORANGE FLOWER WATER, SPICES & CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 70 minutes
Serves 1 to many

1 orange, blood orange, tangelo, tangerine, even half a grapefruit
Orange flower water

A touch of sweetness – a sprinkle of powdered sugar (preferred, it ‘melts’ into the citrus) or demerera sugar or a drizzle of agave
A pinch of spice – cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, even cumin
Texture and flavor contrast –chocolate shavings or toasted pistachios

(If you like, peel off bits of citrus zest for garnish.) Slice the skin off the fruit, then slice crosswise into rounds. (For pictures, see How to Cut an Orange for Slices.) Arrange the slices in a single layer, overlapping a little if helpful, on individual plates or a serving platter.

Splash a little orange water over each slice, about a teaspoon per slice. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or so until the citrus soaks up some of the orange water.

Lightly dust the slices with a touch of sweetness, then sprinkle with a tiny pinch of spice and scatter chocolate shavings or toasted nuts across the top. Serve and savor. Who needs refined sugar?

ALANNA’s TIPS Tangerines and blood oranges hold together best during slicing.

Oranges and grapefruit slice a touch easier when they’re chilled.

If you can tell, choose seedless fruit. If you can’t tell, you might try purchasing different kinds of oranges, say, to find one that doesn’t have seeds.

For sheer beauty, there’s no beating the dramatic appearance of blood oranges. But for color contrast, the chocolate shavings show up best against orange slices.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Serving: 107 Calories; 0g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 0mg Sodium; 25g Carb; 5g Fiber; 20g Sugar; 2g Protein; Weight Watchers Old Points 1, PointsPlus 3 (but since fruit is now “free” with PointsPlus, you might count it as zero, especially since there is so little sugar, so little chocolate).

Adapted from and much inspired by Moroccan Orange Dessert from Simply Recipes.

My fellow food bloggers are the most inspiring cooks I've ever known, what a pleasure it is to follow their culinary curiosity and kitchen creativity! Who are my favorite food bloggers and what are they cooking? Check out I Heart Food Blogs.