Professor Butter Beard’s “Still life with Oranges”
The aroma that wafts off a fresh ripe orange immediately sweeps me away into holiday mode. Growing up in rural Ohio, we knew the holidays had arrived when a large box from Florida would arrive on our doorstep the first chilly weekend in December. My mother’s parents would send this box of sun-filled heaven fully packed with ripe oranges, ruby grapefruits and kumquats. The kumquats were for my father who popped them whole into his mouth with a smile and a wink. As often as possible, I would steal away into the garage where the box of fruit was kept chilled just to savor and memorize the smell of opening the box again and again.
I now attempt to recreate that holiday memory every winter. I honor the whole orange. The zest flavors shortbread cookies and sweet breads and custards. The juice marinates my holiday roasted birds and is jelled into luscious mousses and glazes. I even dry slices of all types of citrus to hang on my Christmas tree and decorate the boxes of holiday cookies ready to be delivered to family and friends.
Paul Gauguin understood the beauty of an orange. “Still life with Oranges” was painted while he was still working as a stockbroker and painting was little more than a hobby to him. Yet this early masterpiece reveals his natural technical skill and the influence of other Impressionists including Monet, Pissarro and Renoir. His artistic journey was quite the adventure as he fled farther and farther away from civilization searching for a “primitive paradise” where he could capture the images as they appeared in his mind. It is written that over a lunch with several young followers, Gauguin lost his temper when describing how he saw objects in his mind. Gesturing towards a dish of apples, he is said to have shouted: “For goodness’ sake, that’s not an apple, it’s a circle!”
I always smile when I see that both he and I shared a practice within our art. In his still-life paintings, Gauguin often incorporated his own belongings, such as the family paring knife lying beside the oranges, as a means of personalizing the composition and acting as a second signature. When I first started photographing my bakes, I would always include my current pair of eyeglasses to accomplish the same goal. Cheers, Paul! I am grateful for that connection.
Clementine, Rosemary and Dark Chocolate Loaves
3 Loaves (you know my rule - eat one, freeze one and give the third to a friend!)
Loaves:
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups white sugar
6 Clementine oranges (you will use the zest in the loaves and the juice in the syrup)
3 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (I find this is usually three sprigs)
5 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp table salt
6 eggs
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla paste
12 ounces dark chocolate chips
Clementine Syrup:
Juice of the 6 Clementine oranges
½ cup white sugar
1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
2) Spray three 8-9” loaf pans with cooking spray and line with parchment paper
3) Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4) Stir the vanilla paste into the buttermilk.
5) Cream the butter and sugar in a standing mixer 1-2 minutes until butter is light and fluffy. Add the zest of the 6 Clementines and the chopped rosemary and mix for 1 minute more. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs, 1 egg at a time.
6) On low, add 1/3 of the dry mix, then half of the buttermilk, 1/3 of the dry mix, remaining buttermilk and finish with the final 1/3 of the dry mix.
7) Off the mixer, fold in the dark chocolate chips.
8) Divide the batter between the three pans and bake 45-50 minutes until golden and set and an inserted wooden skewer comes out clean.
9) While the cakes bakes, stir together the juice of the 6 Clementines and white sugar in a small pan and bring to a simmer on low heat. Take off the heat and let cool to room temperature.
10) When the cakes have cooled for 15 minutes, lightly brush all the syrup over the cakes (while they are still warm in their pans).
11) When the cakes are fully cooled to room temperature, remove them from the pans and enjoy!
