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Blood Orange

Orange Angel Food Cake with Caramel Sauce and Tropical-Fruit Compote

This cake is light as air— and infused with flavor, thanks to a little grated orange peel. A deep, dark caramel sauce and a stunning fruit compote make the dessert dinner-party-worthy. Be sure not to use a pan with a nonstick coating. Because this cake is cooled upside down in the pan, you want the cake to stick to the sides a bit.

Bruschetta with Fava Beans, Greens, and Blood Oranges

In this take on bruschetta, the toasts are spread with a fava puree and topped with a fresh salad.

Blood Orange Marmelade

Blood oranges are small, sweet, nearly seedless oranges with vivid bright red flesh. They have a slightly floral flavor with berry undertones. Blood oranges are in season from December to June and are available at some supermarkets, at specialty foods stores and farmers’ markets, and from melissas.com.

Spice-Coated Rack of Lamb for Two with Arugula, Avocado, and Blood Orange Salad

When purchasing rack of lamb, ask your butcher to remove the chine bone as well as any excess surface fat and to "french" or clean, the rib bones. To create a really flavorful spice coating for the lamb, Hayden recommends using high-quality coffee and dark, strong Valrhona cocoa. For the salad, Fleming likes to use a spicy Tuscan olive oil to give the vinaigrette an extra kick of flavor.

Citrus Salad with Star Anise Syrup

Grapefruit and oranges, at their peak around the holidays, are like a beam of sunshine in the bleak midwinter. Here, a beautiful salad of juicy jewel-toned segments swims in a bright simple syrup infused with the licorice notes of star anise.

Caramelized Blood Orange and Almond Sundaes

Blood oranges have a thinner and less bitter peel than navel oranges, so it's okay to eat—as in this dessert.

Blood Orange Roast Pork Loin

Roasted fingerling potatoes would be great with this colorful dish. Ask the butcher to roll and tie the pork loin for you.

Goat Cheese Crostini with Blood Orange and Black Pepper Marmalade

The marmalade can also be served with a cheese plate or simply spread on toast.

Cranberry and Blood Orange Relish

Just three ingredients make a fresh and bright uncooked relish—and the colors are beautiful, too.

Blood-Orange Mimosas

You'll want to mix up a pitcher of this bubbly drink for its gorgeous ruby hue alone. It's a refreshing prelude to any holiday meal, and it goes so well with the parmesan puffs .

Seasonal Breeze

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Feast: Food to Celebrate Life, _by Nigella Lawson._I'm not really one for cocktails and pitchers of funny drinks, but I came up with this a few years back and it was so good and the color so festive, I just had to go with it.

Savoy Cabbage and Radicchio Slaw with Blood Orange Dressing

Blood orange juice gives the dressing great flavor and color. If you can't find it, use 1/2 cup pomegranate juice mixed with 1/4 cup regular orange juice.

Tuna, Fennel, Avocado, and Tangerine Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

Taste restaurant is something of an anomaly in Tinseltown: low-key, affordable and friendly; the hostess smiles whether you're wearing Chanel or Old Navy. It's no wonder that stars such as Cameron Diaz and Selma Blair like to dine here. This salad, from chef Cathy Halter, is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which may reduce heart disease risk.

Blood-Orange Rum Punch

We recommend using a good-quality California or Spanish sparkling wine for this punch. Both are widely available and less expensive than Champagne.

Spring Greens with Orange-Fennel Vinaigrette

Candied Blood Orange Slices

Add a little drama to the Fresh Orange Tart with Hazelnut Crust with a garnish of candied blood orange slices.

Blood Orange French 75

Blood orange pulp and a dash of bitters update the classic Champagne-gin cocktail. Make the base for the drink one day ahead if you like.

Oven-Roasted Dungeness Crab

The buttery sauce that coats the crabmeat and the shells is part of the pleasure of this dish; to really enjoy it, dispense with the utensils and just eat the crab with your hands. Serve with a green salad dressed with tarragon vinaigrette and plenty of crusty sourdough bread.

Mahi-Mahi with Blood Orange, Avocado, and Red Onion Salsa

Low-fat and low-cal, this dish tastes lively and bright.

Bittersweet Chocolate-Citrus Tart with Jasmine Whipped Cream

The subtle citrus notes in this dark chocolate tart come from pink grapefruit and blood orange zests. It has a sublime buttery shortbread crust. Do-aheads: filled tart, 2 days; candied citrus peel, 1 week.