Chilled Caramelised Oranges with Greek Yoghurt

Do you want to have something cool and refreshing for a hot day? Do you want to have a low-fat dessert that doesn't leave you thinking about the calories you've just consumed? If yes to the above, try this recipe. A quick, fast but yet, refreshing dessert that you can do without much fuss.

This easy peasy recipe from Nigella's book 'Forever Summer' is for 6 to 8 persons. You can tweak the proportions accordingly. I used half the recipe. See my modifications in blue.

Ingredients:

• 6 oranges (navel or any thin skinned variety)
• 500 grams caster sugar (I used about 300g caster sugar)
• 250 ml water
• 8 cardamom pods (crushed)
• 500 grams greek yoghurt

Method:

1. Using a small sharp knife, cut a thin slice off the top and bottom of the oranges, and then slice off the skin vertically, turning the orange as you go, being careful to keep as much flesh as possible but removing all pith.
2. Slice each orange into 5mm / one-eighth of an inch rounds, trying to reserve as much juice as you can.
3. Just plonk the slices, pouring the juices, into a bowl as you cut them. Or just cut them straight into something like a lasagne dish.
4. To make the caramel, put the sugar, water and cardamom pods into a large saucepan and swirl (not stir) a little to dissolve the sugar. Then slowly bring to the boil without stirring, until the syrup becomes a dark amber colour. Do not walk away while you are doing this and risk your caramel from burning.
5. Take the saucepan off the heat and tip in the oranges and any juice that's collected in the bowl. Quickly coat the orange slices in the caramel and pour on to a flat plate; act with speed otherwise the caramel will set before you can get it out of the saucepan. If you can pick out the cardamom pods without burning your fingers, great, but there's no need to get too exercised about it: let those eating do a little work as well. Let the oranges cool, and then put them in the fridge to chill for a little while. Put the Greek yoghurt in a bowl on the table for people to eat it with.

With this bowl of chilled dessert perfect for a humid day, Mr G was digging into it like a little kid who got his favourite bowl of ice-cream. It was a surprise since Mr G is not a fan of sour stuff including yoghurt. I guess this is another good way to make your kids eat yoghurt. Try it, I'm sure they will love it.

Tips:

• Eat this after it's been chilled for a day and no more. The sugary caramel will start to turn a tad liquidy which blends well with the oranges. Any longer than that, all the sugary caramel will disappear and melt into the orange juices.

I'm going to submit this post to Cook like a Star where the Star for this month is Nigella Lawson. Cook Like A Star is an event organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and the co-hosts for this month are Anuja from Simple Baking and Joyce from Kitchen Flavours. Do join us by cooking or baking any of Nigella's recipes for the month of August but do remember that it must be a current post. Don't forget to mention 'Cook like a Star' in your posts.

  

I'm also going to submit this post to Cook-Your-Books #3 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.