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Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

I’ve been a bit obsessed with blood oranges this winter: I’ve been buying them by the bagful, I’ve made marmalade, and from the moment I saw this olive oil cake, I have kept at least 3 blood oranges ready and waiting in my fruit bowl so that I would be ready to make this at a moment’s notice.

Unfortunately, it took 2 weeks for that moment to finally arrive.

But arrive it did, and it brought a stunning cake with it. Like previous olive oil cakes, this cake is beautifully mild with a delicious fruity finish due to a high content of extra virgin olive oil. The oil also happened to impart a darker greenish hue to my cake which may not look so attractive, but I can assure you, it did not detract one iota from its delicate flavor and luscious texture. 

The blood oranges add a bright citrus flavor, though milder than regular oranges, which just gently perfumes the entire cake. Zest is rubbed into the sugar, a technique I’ve tried before with results that I loved. Freshly squeezed blood orange juice is added as well as juicy jewel-toned pulp silvers, which are obtained through “supreme”-ing an orange- which ended up being quite a challenge for me. It seems so simple in theory: cut away all the peel and pith by following the curve of the sides of the orange, and then cut out each segment from the stingy connective membranes. And I’m sure I’ve seen it done many times on Iron Chef, and maybe a Top Chef quickfire challenge? But when faced with the challenge in my OWN kitchen… well, let’s just say I managed to extract enough segments from orange innards for the recipe, but not without a lot of lost juice and a big bloody mess.

But the cake was well worth the mess!

The cake is stunning in its simplicity with a mild citrus flavor, a slightly crispy “crust” on the first day, and  a luxuriously rich texture (without feeling heavy, like other butter-laden cakes) that only improves the longer you can keep yourself from devouring the entire loaf… not that I would know. I liked mine with freshly whipped cream at the start and end of my day, and next time I will be sure to save extra blood oranges make the honey blood orange compote!

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
adapted from Smitten Kitchen via Melissa Clark, A Good Appetite

Butter for greasing pan
3 blood oranges
1 cup (200 grams or 7 ounces) sugar
Scant 1/2 cup (118 ml) buttermilk or plain yogurt
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (156 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cups (219 grams or 7 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Honey-blood orange compote, for serving (optional, below)
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. 
  2. Grate zest from 2 oranges and place in a bowl with sugar. Using your fingers, rub ingredients together until orange zest is evenly distributed in sugar.
  3. Supreme an orange: Cut off bottom and top so fruit is exposed and orange can stand upright on a cutting board. Cut away peel and pith, following curve of fruit with your knife. Cut orange segments out of their connective membranes and let them fall into a bowl. Repeat with another orange. Break up segments with your fingers to about 1/4-inch pieces.
  4. Halve remaining orange and squeeze juice into a measuring cup; you’ll will have about 1/4 cup. 
  5. Add buttermilk or yogurt to juice until you have 2/3 cup liquid altogether. 
  6. Pour mixture into bowl with sugar and whisk well. 
  7. Whisk in eggs and olive oil.
  8. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
  9. Gently stir dry ingredients into wet ones. Fold in pieces of orange segments. 
  10. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  11. Bake cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until it is golden and a knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool to room temperature right-side up. Serve with whipped cream and honey-blood orange compote (below), if desired.

Honey-Blood Orange Compote: 

Supreme 3 more blood oranges according to directions above. Drizzle in 1 to 2 teaspoons honey. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir gently.

  1. theyellowpage posted this