Hold up, another dessert already? It’s true— on the heels of my mint julep cupcakes (which were, by the way, as popular for this year’s Kentucky Derby shindig as last year), I am pushing ahead with another sweet treat. 

This decision defies one of my self-imposed blogging rules of alternating food categories to keep things interesting. Under these guidelines, I should be posting a salad right now, or a pizza or cocktail or something. After three or four more posts, then it would be acceptable for me to post another dessert. Here I am, though, breaking the rules with a bright and shiny citrus and almond cake that’s drenched in orange simple syrup.

Sometimes my own rules get in the way of my creativity. Where in the world does that rule even come from? I have found a clue, right here in the Spotify playlist that I frequently have running as I cook, bake and generally work around the house. One day recently, I was dumbfounded when the shuffle feature ended up playing a George Harrison tune right next to a Beatles track. I love both, but c’mon! With such a ginormous library, couldn’t they mix it up better than that? 

As a former radio personality— who also had the sometimes unenviable duty of pre-scheduling all of the music for my station— I am deeply conditioned toward two principles we called “rotation” and “artist separation.” The first speaks to the idea of giving a song a minimum rest time before you play it again, and the latter is an intentional placing of songs in a seemingly random order to ensure variety on a number of levels. On its face, this meant not scheduling two Beyoncé songs too close together (which was tricky after her solo success butted up against all the Destiny’s Child hits we were already playing).

But it wasn’t just the artists and bands by name. Mine was a Top 40 station, and that meant tempo, intensity, genre, vocal style and, yes, even gender were targets of this music scheduling protocol. It was a tough order, and we periodically bent some of the rules just to stay on the air. The worst was the one against playing two female artists back to back (this never applied to male artists, of course, and I’ll save my grievances about that b.s. for another day). From a purely logistical standpoint, separating the women artists was beyond difficult, especially after Lilith Fair came to town in the late 1990s.

The upshot is in that clumsy Spotify moment, I came to realize how much I subconsciously apply the concept of separation to other things in my life, including my food blog, and I’m thinking that it’s time to relax a few of these weird rules. Yes, my last post was about cupcakes. But maybe you don’t actually mind seeing and reading about another dessert this week, especially one as pretty as this!

Next time, though, probably a pizza. 😏

My inspiration for this almond-citrus cake came from Instagram, and a content creator named Betul Tunc, keeper of @turkuazkitchen. Her recipes are as relaxing to watch as I imagine they are delicious to eat. The backdrop is always the same— a rustic, Old World kitchen setup with a nearby window for natural light. We don’t see anything of her but her skillful hands and old-fashioned apron. You must already have some seasoned cooking skills to understand her techniques, and she usually pins a few specific instructions in the comments section of her posts. She is delightful, and her food always looks so comforting. She just finished a cookbook as well, due to be released this fall. I have no doubt that will be pure eye candy!

Amazing, right? When I watched Betul making this gorgeous cake, I knew that I wanted to adapt the layered citrus technique to a flourless, non-dairy version for Passover. I researched a few recipes for almond flour cake, adjusted ingredient amounts to accommodate a slightly larger pan, and then mixed and matched ideas for my own version of the gradient color cake. It turned out beautiful and delicious! Let’s get to it.

Tips for Success

I’ll share a few bits of advice that helped me along the way, plus suggestions for myself next time I want to make it. 

First, choose citrus fruits that are similar in size, so that overlapping the slices in the cake pan is easier and more uniform. One of my oranges was quite large and I found it tricky to make the layers work. I used two blood oranges (I got lucky with two different colors!), two cara cara oranges and a large Meyer lemon.

You’ll be eating the peel, so organic is best, and be sure to gently wash the citrus in warm, soapy water first— yes, you heard me. Wash the citrus with soap, and then rinse and dry it before slicing. You’d be shocked at the amount of dirty water I poured down the drain after this step. Use a dish detergent that has no fragrance.

Slice the fruit in thin enough slices to layer, but thick enough to hold together. This will be somewhere between 1/4 and 3/8-inch slices, and they should all be the same. Give the citrus slices plenty of time to simmer in the simple syrup, so that the peel becomes soft and pliable. This helps remove the bitterness as well. Also, plan for the citrus to shrink a bit during the candy stage. I ended up simmering extra slices to ensure good overlap beneath the cake batter. Save the ends of the oranges for their juice in the final simple syrup that will be spooned over the cake.

Simmer the lighter colored citrus to your simple syrup first! I discovered quickly how much the blood oranges gave off their brilliant color, and to prevent them staining the lighter slices, I pulled them off to a plate, finishing the simmering in stages. This took about 45 minutes total, and I feel quite sure that you could tackle this task a day ahead to save preparation time on baking day— but bring the orange slices back to room temperature before you bake. Do not discard the leftover syrup!

Separate your eggs while they’re cold, but bring them to room temperature before you begin making the cake. The whites will be whipped until fluffy and folded into the batter at the end. Remember that your mixing bowl and whisk must be completely clean, with no oils or even a drop of yolk, or the egg whites will not beat up fluffy for mixing into the batter. Use a paper towel and white vinegar to wipe them down, just to be sure.

Finally, for preparation of the pan, use a fitted round of parchment paper in the bottom, to ensure that the thin citrus slices don’t stick and cause a problem. Spray the pan with olive oil spray and sprinkle sugar into it before carefully layering your citrus, overlapping tightly and completely so that no batter slips underneath.

Ideally, you want the parchment to slide right off when you invert and plate the finished cake. If you have any lingering “eggy” edges, as I did, simply scratch them off with a toothpick before glazing the top of the cake with additional citrus syrup. Instructions for the final syrup are included below in the click-to-print recipe card.

This cake checked a lot of boxes for me— technique in the layer effect (thank you, Betul!), flourless batter (thanks, King Arthur, Eating Well and other sites) and beauty (thank you, nature, for lovely contribution of red, pink, orange and pale yellow citrus)!

We enjoyed this cake at a Passover meal with friends. It would be perfectly appropriate for a Mother’s Day brunch or dessert for company, and especially in the winter when the citrus are at their peak. Enjoy!

Almond Citrus Cake

• Servings: 8 to 12 slices
• Prep Time: one hour
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• Difficulty: Intermediate
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Inspired by @turkuazkitchen on Instagram, this cake incorporates a beautiful technique with a gluten-free, non-dairy cake that is as delicious as it is pretty!

For the gradient citrus “topper,” choose varying shades of orange, such as blood orange, cara cara, navel. Because you’ll be eating the peel, organic is best. Wash them thoroughly to remove any waxy coating applied for transit to the market. Plan to spend some time on the preparation of the orange slices, as they need several minutes of simmer time in the syrup so that the peels are softened enough. It would probably be fine to prepare the candied orange slices a day ahead.

Ingredients

• 4 oranges, different colors, cut into 1/4-inch to 3/8-inch slices (reserve ends for juice)
• 1/3 cup organic cane sugar (plus another 1/3 cup that you’ll add to the final syrup at the end)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice (squeeze this from one of the orange ends)

Directions

1. Combine water and 1/3 cup of the sugar in a large, wide sauce pot. Add orange juice and stir until all sugar is dissolved and syrup reaches a light boil.
2. Add orange slices in batches (light colors first), and simmer for about 20 minutes, checking periodically to be sure each slice is getting equal time in the syrup mixture. Transfer slices to a plate to cool and repeat with remaining oranges until are candied. They should be soft and pliable, which will make it easy to layer them later. Reserve the remaining simple syrup for the step 8 of the cake instructions.
3. When ready to bake, use spray oil to lightly coat a 9-inch non-stick pan, then place a round of parchment in the bottom. Spray the parchment lightly and sprinkle two tablespoons sugar all over the bottom and up the sides somewhat. Arrange cooled orange slices, overlapping so that no parchment is visible through the layers.

For the almond cake batter, you’ll need a couple of separate bowls. The egg whites will be whipped separately and added to the rest of the batter at the end.

Ingredients

• 5 eggs, separated (do this when eggs are cold)
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar, divided + 2 Tbsp. for prepping pan
• zest of one orange
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1/2 tsp. Fiori di Sicilia (or vanilla extract)
• 1 3/4 cup fine almond flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/8 tsp. fine sea salt

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F, with oven rack in center position.
2. In a stand mixer, with blade attachment, beat egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until evenly combined and somewhat fluffy.
3. Add orange zests and extracts and beat until blended.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking powder and salt. Add this mixture in batches to the egg mixture and beat until evenly combined. It will be a dense, almost paste-like batter.
5. In yet another bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar while whipping, finishing when the whites reach a soft peak stage that resembles meringue.
6. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the dense batter, beginning with only 1/2 cup and gradually adding more. It will feel impossible at first, but after the first two additions of whipped egg whites, it will become easier and smoother.
7. Spoon the cake batter over the layered orange slices, taking care not to disturb the arrangement. Gently smooth the top of the batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool it in the pan for about 15 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate and peel off parchment. Use a toothpick to lift and remove any edges of batter that seeped under the citrus during baking.
8. While the cake bakes, add another 1/3 cup sugar and the juice of all the remaining orange ends to the reserved simple syrup. Stir and cook until all sugar is dissolved. Spoon warm citrus syrup over the entire cake. Reserve remaining syrup to drizzle over at serving time.

After all was said and done, we had about 1/2 cup of the orange simple syrup left over. We bottled it and used it in cocktails!

Easing up on sweets is not a big deal to me, but my hubby loves having dessert and occasional sweet bites. It’s usually a good thing that I like to make such treats at home— we save money and I know exactly what’s going into them— but doing so while we are trying to shed unwanted pounds feels like a no-win situation. Les told me just before Super Bowl that he wanted to buckle down into a better eating plan, to lose weight and get healthier. This was kind of a shock to me, but I know it must have been on his mind for a while before he sprung the news, and I want to support his decision, for my own health as much as his. There’s only two of us at home, and having those treats around is a lot of temptation.

I had been eyeing some overripe bananas on my counter for a few days, thinking how much I had wanted to make banana bread or a snack cake or muffins, and I reluctantly set aside thoughts of it on Wednesday morning as I scurried to pull together my share of the documents Les and I needed for filing our taxes, when an idea hit me like a lightning bolt—

Why not make the sweet treat and give half of it away? Nina, our tax preparer, had told me a few years ago that she loves sweets, so here was my chance! No need to deprive ourselves or do all the math involved in making half a recipe or shuffle to find space in the freezer for leftovers. Giving away half of the treats would keep us from overindulging in a sweet snack that hung around for too many days. Did I mention that Nina also approved this idea? It’s never a bad thing to spiff a hardworking accountant with unexpected homemade goodies, especially during tax season when she barely has time to come up for air. 😁

I should emphasize that our effort to cut back on sweets (and calories in general) is not driven by doctor’s orders or any scary test results; it is merely borne of realization that our indulging has gotten a little carried away. It feels good to lighten things up, and making mindful ingredient swaps into the foods we enjoy is an easy first step. My focus here was on making sure these muffins had some redeeming value beyond tasting delicious. With wholesome grains, ripe bananas and reduced sugar, they were a substantial baked treat— sweet enough to satisfy, but not over the top.

For someone on doctor’s orders to avoid specific foods, it might be a different story, and a plant-based butter or even expeller-pressed canola oil would be a good swap for the dairy butter if saturated fat is the bane of your diet. You could probably also use only one egg and increase the banana, or one whole egg plus two egg whites, or skip the eggs entirely in favor of flax “eggs.” If you have issues with gluten, you could try one of the widely available 1:1 gluten-free options out there. The grocery stores today have plenty of easy alternatives to make the recipe work, and I’ll leave you to it.

I won’t claim that these muffins are half the calories of a typical recipe, but I’m certain that my substitutions made them better for us, and still took care of our sweet tooth. I would make these again in a heartbeat, especially after seeing how much Les enjoyed having one for dessert and another with breakfast. Next time, I might experiment with maple syrup in place of brown sugar, and canola oil in place of butter. And I probably won’t wait until next year’s tax season. 😉

Healthy-ish Banana Oat Muffins

• Servings: 12 muffins
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 18 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
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Whole grains give these muffins a healthy edge over a typical sweet treat. They are delicious when served warm at breakfast, and they even stand-in nicely as a weeknight dessert.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (see notes for measuring tips)
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. milled flax seed (see notes)
• 1 cup mashed very ripe banana
• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. turbinado or other coarse sugar, for sprinkling on muffins before baking

Notes: For accurate measuring of flour, use the fluff-sprinkle-level method. Use a fork or whisk to fluff up the flour in your bag or container, the sprinkle it from a spoon into your measuring cup until overflowing, and then use the edge of a knife to level it off. Dipping straight into the flour bag will likely result in excess flour and a dry outcome.

The Omega-3 (good) fats in flax seed are only digestible when the seeds are ground. You can purchase flax seed already milled, and it’s best stored in the fridge or freezer this way. I usually purchase the whole seeds, grinding them in a coffee or spice grinder as I need them.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F, with oven rack in center position. Line or grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and flax meal.
3. In a separate bowl, combine mashed banana, buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add the wet mixture all at once. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to gently fold the ingredients together, taking care not to over-mix. Let the batter rest one minute, as the acidity in the buttermilk will react with the baking soda to create a somewhat bubbly batter.
5. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. I found a cookie dough scoop very useful for this. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over all the muffins, with one tablespoon covering each row of four muffins.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven, and use the toothpick test to confirm doneness. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

One of my favorite tricks for eating healthier without feeling deprived is switching up the ratio of ingredients or components in a dish. I’m relying on this premise a great deal since my husband, Les, has decided that now is the time to drop a few pounds and eat better. Am I still resentful that he laid this news on me just hours before the Super Bowl, when I was still in the throes of preparing the fat-heavy foods he specifically requested for that day? Perhaps, but I’m distracting myself by getting creative in the kitchen! 😉

I must have still had Mardi Gras and New Orleans on my mind last weekend when I dreamed up this idea to flip the script on jambalaya, which is usually a one-pot stew, heavy with chicken, sausage and shrimp. I decided to skip the shrimp, wrap the andouille sausage inside a skinless chicken breast with a bunch of Cajun-seasoned veggies, and bake it with a quick and easy Creole-inspired sauce. My little roulades (just a fancy French word for something rolled and stuffed) have the spirit of jambalaya, but with a snazzier presentation and a bit lighter on the components that add fat and calories.

As I was working on this dish, and especially the Creole sauce, an old memory hit me that may explain my fascination with the foods of New Orleans, despite having never had the chance to visit. When I was a teenager living in Colorado with my mother, I bused tables for Sunday breakfast and early lunch at a Best Western dining room. My job, in addition to clearing dirty dishes and resetting the tables with white tablecloths, included running hotel pans of hot food from the kitchen to replenish the buffet. I can still picture how I learned to carry the terribly hot stainless steel pans, balancing two opposite corners on the heels of my hands so that I didn’t get burned. One of the dishes that was served frequently as my shift turned toward lunch was “veal Creole,” and I was mesmerized by the sauce. It was tomato-forward, but decidedly not Italian as most sauces I was familiar with. There was something special about it, and I’m certain that it added color to my imagination about other New Orleans cuisine. For sure, I have to put NOLA on the short list of places to visit soon!

Turning jambalaya inside-out (or outside-in)

The prep work is my least favorite step of cooking, but it is so important to have things lined up and ready to go. The French call this principle mise en place, and it seems especially apropos to apply here, given that Creole food is drawn from French inspiration. You’ll see that I’ve packed a ton of vegetables into this dish— bell peppers, onions and celery (known in Louisiana kitchens simply as “the holy trinity”), plus a few cloves of minced garlic. The chopped veggie bits will end up in a Creole sauce, and the diced pieces will fortify the andouille filling of my roulades.

Andouille, a smoked sausage seasoned with garlic, cayenne, onions and wine, is crucial to jambalaya, in my opinion, but it is also pretty high up there on the saturated fats scale because it’s made from pork. In a typical, four-serving batch of jambalaya, I might cut up a full pound of andouille. But here, I’ve cut a single sausage into small cubes, which I crisped up in a pan before adding my aromatic veggies and cooking them until tender. Yes, I cooked the veggies in the rendered sausage fat rather than in oil, and this was intentional to maximize the flavor of my minimal amount of sausage. Had I drained off that grease and used oil to sauté the trinity, we would have missed some of that andouille goodness, and I only would have spared us 1 gram of saturated fat per serving. It was a fair trade.

The Creole sauce I made here was spicy and flavorful, thanks to Cajun seasoning and fresh garlic that echo the andouille flavors. Flour thickens up the chicken broth-based sauce, and I was able to use up half a can of spicy Rotel tomatoes (left from the queso dip I made for Super Bowl), half a can of regular diced tomatoes (left from a salmon dish I made earlier in the week) plus tomato paste for added depth. This sauce was flavor on top of flavor, and I knew it would be even better after some simmer time in the oven over the roulades.

Stuffed chicken breasts are easy to do, but there are a few steps involved for easy rolling. First, you want the chicken to lay flat, so use a sharp paring knife and a slow, gentle touch to gradually open up the long side of the breast like a book. Next, place them between layers of parchment or waxed paper and pound them with the flat side of a meat mallet until the chicken is about 3/8-inch thick. It should look similar to a heart shape. 

Letting the good times roll!

Finally, it was time to assemble and bake my roulades! There was one more flavor element that I wanted in my “rearranged” jambalaya, and that was okra. My husband is not a fan of this much-maligned southern staple vegetable, which can sometimes be slimy when cooked. Here’s how I got around that unpleasant trait— I used spicy pickled okra! The process of pickling keeps the okra firm and sturdy, and the sweet-sour pickling added a nice flavor accent to my roulades. I cut lengthwise slits in each okra pod so that I could release the excess liquid onto paper towels, and then I rolled up my andouille-layered cutlets with the okra inside and tucked in a few toothpicks to hold them together.

A quick dusting of flour ensured even browning on my roulades, and then I covered and smothered them with the Creole sauce, baking it with a foil cover for about 40 minutes. My kitchen smelled amazing! I carefully lifted the roulades to a cutting board, sliced them up and served on brown rice with the Creole sauce.

This little adventure gave us some big, bold flavor, and we didn’t miss the extra andouille or its extra calories. Based on my lookup, by the way, each serving of this meal was roughly 420 calories. Probably a little less, actually, as I had two servings of the Creole sauce left over. I used it up two nights later, with Cajun seared shrimp.

Jambalaya-stuffed Chicken Roulades

• Servings: 4
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 90 minutes
• Difficulty: Average
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This is a playful reinvention of classic jambalaya, made a bit healthier by reducing the amount of high-fat sausage and emphasizing lean chicken and vegetables.

Ingredients

• 1 link smoked andouille sausage, diced into small bits
• 1 medium sweet onion, divided; 2/3 chopped and the rest diced
• 2 stalks celery, divided; 2/3 chopped and the rest diced
• 1/2 each red and green bell peppers, divided; 2/3 chopped and the rest diced
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• Several shakes Cajun garlic seasoning (use it to season every layer)
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 can diced tomatoes (I used a combination of “hot” Rotel and regular diced tomatoes)
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded to 3/8″ thickness
• 4 pods pickled okra, slit lengthwise to drain and blotted dry with paper towels
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cooked brown rice for serving

Directions

1. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the diced andouille sausage and cook until the edges are crisped and fat is rendered. Add the diced onions, peppers and celery and sprinkle with Cajun garlic seasoning. Cook until vegetables are tender and reduced, adding half of the garlic in the last couple of minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. While the diced veggies are cooking, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add olive oil and chopped vegetables. Season with Cajun garlic seasoning and cook until softened, adding garlic near the end of cooking. Spoon flour over the vegetables and toss to cook until the roux coats and sticks to the pot.
3. Add chicken stock, whisking to release any browned bits in the pot. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and stir, bringing the pot to a slight boil to thicken sauce. Reduce heat and cook for a few more minutes while you prep the chicken.
4. Preheat oven to 350° F. Assemble the roulades by dividing the andouille-trinity mixture evenly over the butterflied chicken breasts. Place two okra pods at the narrow tip of the cutlet and roll snugly toward the larger end. Secure the loose ends with toothpicks.
5. Dust each roulade lightly with flour. Place a skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Gently brown the roulades on all sides and then transfer to a baking dish. Spoon the creole sauce over the roulades, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Carefully transfer each roulade to a cutting board to slice them into rounds.
6. Serve roulade slices over brown rice with Creole sauce.