I think we need to celebrate the fact that that we made it through January. Winter has never been my favourite season. I have tried to embrace the season by getting outdoors, cross country skiing and ice skating on the world’s longest skating rink, but, as my husband and I like to remind each other, “Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.” Wise advice for many life situations.

One of the few things that I do love about winter is blood oranges. They taste similar to navel oranges, with a slightly more floral, almost, raspberry flavour. They’re not quite as sweet as a navel orange and they have a slight hint of bitterness, which is part of their unique allure.

My favourite thing about blood oranges is the surprise element. You never know what you’re going to get when you slice one open. Sometimes they’re mostly orange, lightly veined with some ruby colouration, other times they’re vermillion and once in a while a vivid crimson is revealed. Blood oranges are one of the few good surprises left in life anymore.

I love the fact that, in this age of instant gratification, when we can get anything we want, at any time, blood oranges are only available for a few short months each year. What gives the flesh their unique hue is the presence of anthocyanins which is an antioxidant pigment. This pigment only develops if the fruit develops with low temperatures during the night. The pigment continues to develop after harvest if they are kept in cold storage.

I love baking with them. Their vibrant colour makes a beautiful glaze for bundt cake, a vibrant curd for a meringue tart, and a tangy caramel to drizzle on ice cream.

This season I decided to use them in a cocktail. While I dislike drinking cocktails, (wine for me please), I love making and photographing them. I used the blood orange in two ways for this gin based cocktail. The juice was added to some gin, a splash of Aperol and topped with sparkling blood orange soda. Then I brûléed a slice to garnish the drink. This step is optional, but so much fun. It can also be done in a skillet. The directions are in the recipe.