When I think of oranges I don’t think of them being red, just orange so blood orange are unusual to me. I don’t remember trying blood orange well not that I know of, apparently they are known to be much sweeter then normal oranges but what I’m most fascinates me about them is the beautiful, vibrant red colour it’s captivating. I was hoping this vivid colour would carry through to the cake.
I was so excited to see that red colour once I cut the orange open, however I was a hugely disappointed as the colour was a mix of orange and red and not fully red 🤔 I didn’t understand, why? 😔 I wanted that lovely pink for the icing but mine turned out a very dull pink, however this cake was amazing it had a lovely taste of orange and was really soft I enjoyed it and would make it again, hopefully with more of red coloured oranges.
- 220g -plain flour
- 1 tsp - baking powder
- 1/2 tsp - salt
- 113g - unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 200g - sugar
- 2 blood oranges - finely grated zest of
- 2 - large eggs, at room temperature
- 120ml - buttermilk
- 1/4 cup (60ml) - fresh blood orange juice
- 3 - large slices of orange (optional)
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) - fresh blood orange juice
- 60g - icing sugar
- 1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Grease and line a 8.5" x 4.5" loaf tin.
- 2. In a bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt mix and set aside.
- 3. In a stand mixer beat together the butter, sugar and blood orange zest until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes in a stand mixer. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time until blended.
- 4. Mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Mix in the buttermilk and blood orange juice until just combined, scrape the side of the bowl. Add the remaining flour and blend until just combined, don't overmix.
- 5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan add the slices of orange on top of the cake. Bake for about 1 hour or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Let the cake cool.
- 6. Once cooled, whisk together the blood orange juice and icing sugar until smooth. Drizzle the sauce over the loaf cake.
