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Blood Orange Cake

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We are currently in prime blood orange season so it’s the perfect time to cook up something delicious with them! Plus they are so pretty – like realllllly pretty. And if you use enough juice (which this recipe definitely does) you get a beautiful pink hue to your dessert! If you’ve never had a blood orange, they are very sweet and much less acidic than other citrus fruits (like other oranges, lemons, grapefruit, etc). They almost have a berry type sweetness! Imagine crossing an orange with strawberries and a couple of blackberries for color – then you have a blood orange!

This recipe builds blood orange flavor in layers – there is juice and zest in the cake itself, more juice in the soak and even more juice in the glaze. I also added some lemon juice to amp up the citrus flavor. The cake is very moist from the sour cream and the soak and since it’s in the shape of a loaf, it’s definitely okay to eat for breakfast!

A few notes about the recipe – when you add your eggs to the beaten butter and sugar, the mixture may look curdled. That is okay! It will gradually come together as you continue to mix – so do not fret! When mixing the wet ingredients together, it may look slightly separated. Again, totally fine! It’s all ending up in the same place in the mixer, so it doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect. You just want it to be combined thoroughly enough so you can add it in waves, alternating with the dry ingredients. Finally, the batter is thick – so don’t forget to level it in the pan and ensure that it is spread out evenly.

You can also make this cake in any shape! I chose a large loaf pan and some mini loaf pans because I wanted to really show off that beautiful pink color. But you could easily use this recipe as the base for a layer cake!

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Blood Orange Cake

This blood orange is a beautiful and delicious alternative to a more traditional lemon loaf!
Servings: 2 loaves

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1 cup 2 sticks butter, room temperature
  • 1.5 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 cups AP flour
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 2 tbsp blood orange juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp blood orange zest

For the soak:

  • 1/4 cup blood orange juice
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar

For the glaze:

  • 3/4 cup confectioners sugar sifted
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp blood orange juice

Instructions

For the cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare two loaf pans by spraying with cooking spray - make sure to get the spray in the corners of the pan.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and salt on medium-high. Beat until light and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, beat until combined. If the mixture looks curdled, do not worry. Continue to beat until combined - about 2 minutes.
  • Stir in the vanilla.
  • In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (baking powder, AP flour). Stir to combine.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients (sour cream, canola oil, blood orange juice, lemon juice, blood orange zest). Whisk to combine.
  • With the stand mixer on low, add the dry and wet ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating between dry and wet in the following additions: dry, wet, dry, wet, dry. Do not overmix.
  • Spread the batter evenly into the two loaf pans. The batter is thick, so make sure that the batter is spread evenly in the pans.
  • Bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake begins to brown too much, cover with tin foil.

While the cake is baking:

  • While the cake is baking, prepare the soak and glaze.
  • To prepare the soak, combine the blood orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan.
  • Stir over medium heat until all of the sugar has dissolved.
  • Set aside.
  • To prepare the glaze, combine the blood orange juice, lemon juice, and sifted powdered sugar in a small bowl.
  • Whisk to combine. The glaze is not meant to be thick, but if you want it to be thicker so it holds its shape more on your cake, increase the amount of powdered sugar.
  • Set aside.

To assemble:

  • Once the cakes are finished baking, remove from the oven.
  • Let cool slightly and then remove from the pan and place on a cooling rack.
  • While the cakes are still warm, use a pastry brush to cover the loaves in the soak.
  • Let the cakes cool completely.
  • Once cooled, pour the glaze over the loaves.

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