Let me take you back a few years to 2015. I was living in Florence, Italy for a semester abroad, and down the street from my apartment was this little fresh fruit bodega. Smallest little hole-in-the-wall, but had the freshest, best fruit. I thought I had bought an orange, but unbeknownst to me, it had these beautiful deep red stripes and hues blended throughout. Ever since that day, blood oranges have been one of my favorite fruits for their tangy yet sweet flavor.
This blood orange olive oil cake is an homage to my time in Italy. Olive oil brings a beautiful tenderness and flavor to cakes without being too overpowering, which is the perfect pair to the citrus from fresh blood oranges.
Aside from the bright flavor blood oranges bring to the table, they also provide a stunning color (peep the icing drizzle). The best part? This loaf is acceptable to eat at literally any time of day. A slice for breakfast, mid day snack, or dessert.
Blood Orange Olive Oil Loaf
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp orange zest about 1 orange worth
- 1 cup olive oil medium to light colored
- ½ cup blood orange juice about 4 oranges - you'll need a little bit for the glaze, too.
- ½ cup whole milk
Glaze:
- 1 tbsp blood orange juice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325℉ and butter/spray a loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom).
- In a separate medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and orange zest. Massage together with your fingers until fragrant and a wet sand consistency (this helps really bring to life the flavor!).
- In the bowl with the sugar zest, whisk in the eggs until fully combined. Then add olive oil, blood orange juice and milk. Stir to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined.
- Pour mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes.
- To make the glaze, combine the blood orange juice and powdered sugar and whisk until you get a smooth texture.
- Once the loaf is done baking, allow to cool before pouring on the glaze.
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