eat make read

One of the things I love about food—and sharing recipes—is that there’s always something new to try. Always. It doesn’t have to be something crazy—it can be—but it can be something as simple as swapping out an lemon for a blood orange and taadaaa! You’ve got something new! There’s a level of anticipation involved (wherein I whisper to myself, “please be good, please be good”) and then there’s the simplicity of seeing raw ingredients become something totally new (wherein I whisper to myself “please don’t be ugly”). It’s just fun. Sometimes I forget that. Sometimes I get in a slump and feel like everything is boring. Luckily I always come around. Perhaps it’s because there are things like blood oranges that feel like little treasures just waiting to be discovered. I came up with the idea of this cake after spying lemon cake at my local coffee shop and thought, mmm, that sounds good… but I bet blood orange cake would be better. And so I present you with a simple, tasty blood orange cake.

I used a recipe for lemon cake that I found in Breakfast, Lunch, Tea as a starting point, substituting blood orange juice and zest wherever it called for lemon. I did keep some lemon zest in the mix to ensure the bread had enough pep. It’s a pretty basic cake recipe except for one thing—it calls for ground almonds, which was a little intimidating at first. But I simply tossed a bunch of almonds in my blender and in a minute or so I had a lovely mixture of finely ground almonds. Nothing to be scared about. In no time I was pouring the batter into my loaf pan and into the oven it went.

A little over a half hour later I checked it and it needed a little more time. I let it bake a little longer than the original recipe to make sure the top was golden. A skewer came out with a hint of batter, but since the top was nice and golden I made the executive decision to pull it out of the oven. Good decision. After letting it cool, I poured a simple glaze of blood orange juice and confectioner’s sugar over top, letting the naturally pink icing pour down the sides.

The result is a rich, buttery cake that has a ton of depth to it. Those ground almonds that I was worried about really add flavor and of course, the blood orange brings a lovely sweetness to the cake. What I love about this cake—maybe it’s just the shape—but it tastes good as a dessert after dinner, perhaps with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or as an indulgent breakfast in the morning. And it’ll certainly perk up any winter blahs.

blood orange cake
makes 1 loaf cake, serves 8
adapted from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice of 1 blood orange
grated zest of 2 blood oranges
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ground almonds
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

For the glaze:
juice of 1 blood orange
1 to 1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 10″ loaf pan with parchment.

1
Beat the butter and sugar until the mixture is very light and creamy.

2
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla.

3
Add the blood orange juice and zest.

4
In a separate bowl, carefully mix together the baking powder, salt ground almonds and flour.

5
Gently fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture.

6
Pour the misture into the prepared tin and bake for about 35 or until a knife inserting in the center comes out clean and the top is golden.

7
Remove from the oven and cool in the tin before taking it out.

8
Make the glaze, if you wish. Combine the blood orange juice with enough confectioner’s sugar to make a thick but pourable mixture. Pour it over the cake and let it drip down the sides.