Blood Orange Cake

So its February and Toronto is cold, grey and gloomy. Brrrrr....It snows here maybe 2-3 times a week, not heavily but mostly flurries. Oh how much I love those cute little flurries. Tiny floating pieces of cotton like snow that softly settles on my head and shoulders while I'm out and about. The feather-y snowflake cluster quickly settles on my skin and then melts into tiny drop of water. I love that moment. And when you wake up in the morning while its been snowing outside, there's a sheet of white on the ground. Everything blanketed under the snow. There's something so calming and peaceful about the snow clad mornings. I love that moment too! 

But its mostly grey and gloomy and I am really looking forward to the summers. That being said, I'm making the most of the winter produce here. The one thing I'm most smitten by is Blood Oranges. Oranges that are bloody red colour on the inside and taste like a blend between oranges and raspberries. Tart but sweet berrylicious orange-y goodness! 

On this valentine's day, I decided I am going a different route than the really over done chocolate-something-dessert and in comes the Blood Orange cake. Its pink afterall and feb is the month of pink, isn't it?! 

So about this cake, it is soooo moist, the crumb is light yet dense, it has this gorgeous fresh citrusy flavour running through it and the icing is completely a natural pink colour. Oh and I got a new bundt pan to make it and boy was I glad I did! I was first going to bake a loaf cake but the bundt make it sooo much better! If you don't have a bundt pan, use a round pan instead. Lets get on to making it then, shall we?! 

Serves: 10-12 slices

Complexity: ***

Time taken: 1 hour

You'll need

3 blood oranges

1 2/3 cup of sugar

2 sticks or 1 cup of butter  

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1 pinch of baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups of confectioner's sugar

a pinch of love

Method

Preheat your oven to 150C. Have your butter softened and eggs at room temperature. Zest 2 blood oranges and save the zest. Squeeze the juice of one blood orange and save it. Grease your bundt pan extremely well so that the cake does not get stuck in any crevices. I first buttered my pan and then coated the butter with flour. Worked like a charm.

Like all other cakes, this cake also starts with creaming the butter and sugar together. In a bowl whisk the butter and sugar till the butter becomes pale and fluffy. 

Add in the eggs one by one and the vanilla along with it and keep whisking till the mixture becomes frothy. Whisk for atleast 4 minutes.  Add the juice of one orange that you saved earlier along with the yogurt and whisk again.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. 

Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and fold them till the batter comes together. 

Lastly add in the zest of the blood orange and give it all a last mix. Do you smell that gorgeous flavour yet?! See the red speckled orange zest? 

Pour the batter in the pan and level it properly so the cake comes out even. 

Let it bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or till the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Look at this beauty! Golden perfection and the aroma- my whole house was smelling like heaven!! 

I let the cake cool on a wire rack overnight but you can let it cool for atleast an hour before you glaze it.

For the glaze, sift 2 cups of confectioner's sugar or powdered sugar in a bowl. Little by little keep adding the juice of the remaining two blood oranges. I used the juice of about 1 1/2 blood oranges to reach my desired consistency. 

No artificial colour and look at this blushing pink!! The colour will depend on the blood oranges too. Some can be darker or lighter than others. No matter what the shade, the cake will look stunning and taste even better. 

Just tip the bowl of glaze over the cake 

Let the drizzle do its own thing. 

After about 30 minutes the glaze will set and you can now slice in and relish the delectable cake. 

How purrdddyyyy!!! 

The gorgeous crumb... and oh so moist! Wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day my loves!! Indulge!