Florida Grapefruit add some Sunshine and Zing to my New Year Diet !

Most people kick off their healthy eating plans in the New Year, but now that we've already all consumed our entire body weight in chocolates, mince pies and Baileys, now is probably the best time to start ! To help inject some Florida sunshine into our day, Florida Grapefruit sent us this fabulous surprise package through the post. 

Nestling inside were some lovely goodies - some grapefruit scented, printed or flavoured products including  tea, scent diffuser, a candle, lip balm, a mug and, of course, some lovely zesty vitamin bombs, also known as Florida Grapefruit.

Now, I've always been a big grapefruit fan myself, right back to my primary school days when they'd sometimes serve half a grapefruit with a glacé cherry on top for dessert at the canteen, but the Madhouse kids often turn their noses up, finding it too sour. Florida Grapefruit pride themselves on being the sweetest and juiciest grapefruit so I tempted them to have a try and they did actually like it, which surprised me ! I already have a few recipes where I use grapefruit in prawn or crab salad or in fruit salad, but I was delighted to see that Florida Grapefruit had some more innovative recipes up their sleeves, that I can't wait to try out now that the Madhouse kids have been won over.

I received recipe cards for Florida Grapefruit with Granola,  Muesli Bars and Florida Grapefrruit & Walnut Muffins (a recipe I'll share below) but their Facebook page has some other suggestions, such as Florida grapefruit Tart with Cardamom Cream and White Chocolate and Florida Grapefruit sorbet bites. Here's a simple recipe to get you started.

Florida Grapefruit & Walnut Muffins

Muffins just bursting with juicy pieces of Florida grapefruits and walnuts. Simple to make, delicious to eat!

Preparation: 15 mins

Cooking: 15-18 mins

Makes 12

150g/5oz plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

75g/3oz wholemeal flour

100g/4oz golden granulated sugar

75g/3oz butter, melted

1 large egg

200ml/7floz buttermilk

1 pink Florida grapefruit, segmented and roughly chopped

75g/3oz walnuts, roughly chopped

50g/2oz icing sugar

1. Place 12 muffin paper cases in a muffin tin. Preheat the oven to 200 C, 400 F, Gas 6. Sift the plain flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl. Stir in the wholemeal flour and granulated sugar..

2. Mix together the butter, egg and buttermilk and pour over the dry ingredients. Reserve 2 tsp of the juice from the grapefruit pieces in small bowl. Add the grapefruit pieces to the flour mixture with the walnuts. Stir only enough to dampen the flour, the mixture should be lumpy.

3. Spoon the mixture evenly between each muffin case and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden. Remove the muffins to a cooling rack and leave to cool.

4. Blend the reserved grapefruit juice with the icing sugar to make icing. Drizzle over the muffins to decorate.

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Florida grapefruit is available from November to May, with peak season sweetness and juiciness starting in January, so now is the perfect time to add some zing-a-zing-aah to your diet and kick off those New Year healthy eating resolutions !

Disclosure : I received a package of goodies from Florida Grapefruit.