Baked Oranges in Vanilla Rum Cream

I feel compelled to share that I am utterly in love with this song.

That said, this recipe came about quite by accident one evening in Montreal. 

I had been chatting with a colleague about my dream of baked oranges in syrup (yup, I pretty much think about food all the time). Anyhow, I got back to my apartment that evening and started experimenting with this idea and before I knew it, rum and cream mischievously snuck in to the picture as well.  And happily so. 

This is a simple but sophisticated dessert with a creamy warmth and depth of flavour that will have you and your guests swooning.  It's also different from anything I've experienced before, so I hope you enjoy it's uniqueness too.

Although much of the alcohol burns off during the cooking process (though not the taste), a non-alcohol version is also delicious.  You can simply omit the rum and enjoy as is or consider adding one or two star anise during the baking process.  Simply remove the star anise before serving.  All else remains the same. 

Baked Oranges in Vanilla Rum Cream

• 3 large seedless navel oranges, peeled and sliced into bite size pieces
• 1/4 cup orange juice (dilute not from concentrate)
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp demerara sugar (substitute brown sugar)
• 2 vanilla beans (substitute 2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 ounces of rum
• 1/2 cup 10% cream (half and half cream)

Serves 4

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Heat oven to 400 F.

When removing the rind from the oranges, try to retain as much of the pith (the white part under the rind) as possible.  The pith is full of nutrients but is often cut away, which is a shame.

Place orange segments in an oven safe dish.  Pour rum over oranges and then drizzle with 1 Tbsp of maple syrup and sprinkle with 1 tsp of cinnamon.  Cut vanilla beans in half and place pieces in dish.

Mix all ingredients together and tuck vanilla bean pieces under oranges before placing dish in oven.

Bake for 20 minutes (it will smell delightful).

Remove dish from oven.   Remove vanilla bean pieces from dish.  Using a dull knife, run the blade along the pod to release the tiny black vanilla seeds (like a paste) from the open end of the bean and add this paste to the dish, mixing around with oranges.  Sprinkle oranges with demerara or brown sugar and return to oven for 3 minutes.     

Remove dish from oven and divide orange mixture among 4 serving dishes.  Add 1/8 cup of cream to each dish.  Drizzle each dish with 1 tsp maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Top with some orange zest as desired.