Got Blood Oranges? Bake a Cake!

Blood oranges on your hands? Don’t know what to do with them? Make a unique blood orange cake that tastes as good as it looks!

My friend, Gail, frequently drops by with beautiful citrus from her trees. She is like a reverse porch-pirate, dropping off bags of blood oranges, as she did recently! I later find this treasure by my front door, and am delighted to be able to use them in a cookie recipe, to juice them and eat them as they are!

As I’ve done in the past, I used my Sicilian whole orange cake recipe with Gail’s blood oranges instead of navel oranges. The color is absolutely stunning, and the addition of slightly candied orange slices is just perfect!

You can choose to make this cake in an 8″ round springform pan, or loaf tin, instead of the bundt pan as I did. All three pans work brilliantly with this recipe. Why not just use the Sicilian orange cake recipe instead of writing another post? See the answer below.

What is the Difference Between Blood Oranges and Navel Oranges?

Well, the difference in the rind of a blood oranges is the reason for writing another recipe. If you are familiar with both varieties of oranges, you’ll know that navel oranges have a thicker and soft rind.

Along with some navel oranges (and lemons), this is a serving of Boodles Orange Fool

Whereas, blood oranges have a much thinner and dense rind. I have also found that my navel oranges are almost double the size as the blood oranges Gail gives me, which changes the ratio of fruit to rind. 

Slices of blood oranges are the easy way to make this an impressive dessert.

Make sure to slice them thinly.

What to do Differently When Baking a Cake with Blood Oranges

What I did, which worked wonderfully, is that I used less rind in the blood orange cake recipe. It still has the marvelous texture and flavor of a whole orange cake, without too much rind (possibly making it more tough and bitter).

Blood Oranges Cake Recipe

recipe adapted from my Sicilian whole orange cake recipe                          serves 12

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Make the blood orange cake batter

Grease and flour a bundt pan (or springform or loaf tin).

Beat the sugar and eggs in a large bowl or stand mixer until light and fluffy.

Sift the flour and the baking powder (or Paneangeli if you are using it). Add the dry ingredients to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time, intermittently with the softened butter (in 2 or 3 additions). Stir until uniformly blended, then stir in the yogurt.

In a food processor, or blender, process the pieces of blood oranges until they are almost pureed. 

Add the processed oranges to the cake mixture (along with the vanilla if you used baking powder) and stir until evenly mixed. Next, pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the cake

Bake for 45-55 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the blood orange cake is done (tester should come out of the cake dry) before removing from the oven. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then shake the pan gently to remove the cake.

Make the glaze using the blood oranges and slices

Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the blood orange juice in a sauté pan and allow to simmer for a few minutes. When the liquid has a syrupy consistency, add thin slices of blood oranges and coat them well.

Remove from heat. Spoon and/or brush the syrup over the top of the cake.

Then top with the blood orange slices to decorate.

Allow to cool completely before cutting. 

Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, or even a liqueur or cocktail!

Blood Orange Cake

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

A beautiful blood orange cake that's moist and delicious!

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Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/8 c (250g) sugar
• 1 3/4 c (275g) all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder (or 1 packet Italian Pane Degli Angeli vanilla baking powder)
• 1/3 c (100g) butter, softened
• 1/3 c (100g) plain Greek yogurt (yes, sour cream works, too)
• 2 or 3 small organic blood oranges (300g), washed and cut into pieces (remove the rind of about ⅓ of the oranges and remove the seeds)
• (if using plain baking powder add 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Glaze and Orange Slices

• 3 oz blood orange juice
• 1/3 c (100g) sugar
• 2 or 3 blood oranges, washed and thinly sliced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)

Make the blood orange cake batter

1. Grease and flour an bundt pan (or 8" springform pan or loaf tin).
2. Beat the sugar and eggs in a large bowl or stand mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Sift the flour and the baking powder (or Paneangeli if you are using it). Add the dry ingredients to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time, intermittently with the softened butter (in 2 or 3 additions).
4. Stir until uniformly blended, then stir in the yogurt.
5. When preparing the blood oranges, be sure to remove the peel of one third of the total amount of oranges.  You can peel a third of each orange or simply peel one in its entirety. In a food processor, or blender, process the pieces of blood oranges until they are almost pureed. 
6. Add the processed oranges to the cake mixture (along with the vanilla if you used baking powder) and stir until evenly mixed. Next, pour the batter into the prepared tin.

Bake the cake

1. Bake for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the blood orange cake is done (tester should come out of the cake dry) before removing from the oven.
2. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then gently shake the pan to loosen the cake, then place it on a cooling rack.

Make the glaze using the blood oranges and slices

1. Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the blood orange juice in a sauté pan and allow to simmer for a few minutes. When the liquid has a syrupy consistency, add thin slices of blood oranges and coat them well.
2. Remove from heat. Spoon and/or brush the syrup over the top of the cake, which you can do while the cake is still warm.
3. Then top with the blood orange slices to decorate.
4. Allow to cool completely before cutting. 

Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, or even a liqueur or cocktail.

Notes

For example, if you are using 3 small blood oranges, peel just one.

You can omit the orange slices as well as the glaze as it is not critical to how delicious this cake is.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 260Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 163mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gSugar: 31gProtein: 5g

Nutrition information is only estimated.

Did you make this recipe?

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