Delicious Blood Orange Loaf Cake
It is blood orange season and I cannot be happier, as I am such a big fan of blood oranges! I love their flavour and distinct taste - slightly more sour than regular oranges. I wanted to make them shine so I decided to use them in this recipe. Although it has quite a big quantity of icing sugar and I was not able to eat it as it was too sweet for me, my husband said it is almost like heaven on earth and I believe him. I had the cake without the drizzle glaze and I loved the interesting texture that the cornmeal offers it!
The recipe is inspired BBC easy cook, I just made half of the quantity which I think it's perfect for a couple, whenever I make sweets I make a small batch for my husband usually and I bake bigger quantities if I have guests of friends coming over. You need to try this if you love citrussy cakes.
- 125 g butter (room temperature)
- 60 g caster sugar (the original recipe says 125 for this quantity, but please keep in mind the sugar glaze will add extra sweetness, so I would suggest you to add around 60 g. If you like it really sweet, then go ahead and add the 125g)
- 2 Pcs eggs (room temperature)
- 50 g all-purpose flour
- 75 g cornmeal (polenta - choose a very fine polenta/cornmeal though, as if the grains are too coarse, it will make the loaf a bit unpleasant to chew. I have grinded it once before adding it to the cake)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 50 ml blood orange juice (freshly squeezed)
- 200 g icing sugar (you can add more or less, if you want the glaze to be thicker, you need to add more, but keep in mind it will be sweeter too)
- Preparing the cake
In a bowl, start mixing the sugar and the butter until pale and fluffy (1 minute). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the orange extract and give it a mix too. In a separate bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, cornmeal (polenta), baking powder and a pinch of salt together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until incorporated.
Pour the mixture into a loaf tin lined with baking sheet and bake it for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown at 180 degrees.
Cool completely on a rack before adding the glaze.
- Making the glaze
Mix the fresh blood orange juice with the icing sugar. Add the sugar gradually until your glaze reaches the wished consistency. It can be more or less sugar, there is simply no rule. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and decorate with fresh orange slices. I added some pistachio as well for colour contrast. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!