Embrace citrus season with this delicious Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake. It’s bursting with fresh flavor, moist, fluffy and perfectly sweet. The cake is topped with a light, zesty glaze for a delightful snacking experience.
About this Cake
If you’ve never had blood orange before, think of a sweet, juicy orange with subtle hints of raspberry and cherry. Upon slicing one open, you’ll see it’s dark crimson flesh, very closely resembling the color of blood.
Blood Oranges are the star of this cake providing fresh citrus flavors, but we can not forget about the olive oil which provides the richest, smoothest texture. Since the center of a cake doesn’t reach much higher than 210°F, the olive oil will not be damaged and its flavor will not be compromised in the baking process. So use high quality oil. It’s SO worth it.
Serve this Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake as dessert at your winter dinner party, with morning coffee or tea, or at an Easter brunch. It’s also a great snack cake just to have on hand for that sweet tooth craving.
And if you love citrus desserts, also check out these Grapefruit Bars, these Dairy Free Lemon Bars, this Lemon Zucchini Cake or this Glazed Greek Yogurt Lemon Quick Bread that I’m sure you’ll enjoy, too!
Recipe Ingredients
- Blood Oranges – You can find blood oranges at most conventional grocery stores December through April. They’ve got a citrusy orange flavor with hints of sweet raspberries. We will use the orange zest and also the juice in this cake.
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil – Olive oil creates a beautifully rich and moist cake texture. The lower baking temperature keeps the delicate olive oil flavors in tact (as compared to roasting or frying with olive oil at high heat).
- Cane Sugar – We will use one cup sugar to sweeten our cake. I’ve not tried any sugar substitutes.
- Almond Extract – This adds additional sweet, nutty, and fruity flavors. It’s a unique taste that goes amazing with the orange. You can also use orange extract for more emphasis on the citrusy flavors. In a pinch, reach for vanilla extract.
- Eggs – Provide structure to the cake. It is important these get incorporated one at a time so they’re full absorbed into the batter for the more suspension in the cake.
- Flour – I used all purpose flour and have not tried any other types, so substitute with caution.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×4 loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease any of the remaining exposed sides of the pan with butter flavored crisco.
1. In a large mixing bowl, add the zest of 1 blood orange and cane sugar. Use an electric hand mixer or whisk to combine until zest is thoroughly incorporated and sugar is tinted orange.
2. Beat in the eggs one at a time ensuring that the egg is fully incorporated before adding in the next. Then add in almond extract, Cointreau and greek yogurt. Whisk feverently.
3. Pour in baking powder, salt, and flour. Whisk together until smooth throughout. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all of the flour.
4. Fold the olive oil into the batter, making it silky. Juice the 1 ½ blood oranges (save the remaining ½ for the frosting) and whisk again until smooth. Note: this won’t make the batter pink. If you’re looking for that, add 1-2 drops of pink food coloring.
5. Bake for 50-65 minutes**Note: oven times may vary and need to adjust +/- 10-15 minutes. The loaf is finished when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean!
6.Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before adding the glaze.
7. To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar and juice/zest of blood orange and optional ½ tsp orange extract. Use an electric hand mixer to combine glaze together. It will be thick. Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until glaze is spreadable.
8. Remove the cake from the pan and place on a wire rack. Pour the glaze over top of the loaf. For easy cleaning, I like to place a piece of parchment under the rack because inevitably some of the glaze will drip down.
PRO TIPS
Properly measure your ingredients. The perfect ratio of wet and dry ingredients will result in the silky, delicate, delicious cake texture that we’re going for. For the flour use a spoon to scoop it into the measuring cup, rather than scooping the flour right from the bag to avoid it getting packed in with ultimately too much.
Make sure your baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it’s one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it’s still good to use, but if not it’s time to toss it!
Prep your pan. If your parchment paper does not cover all sides of the pan, heavily grease the exposed sides with crisco. This cake WILL get stuck to the sides of the springform pan if you skip this step.
Watch the glaze consistency. You want the glaze thin enough that you can pour it onto the cake, but not so thin that it just runs off. Add the milk slowly until a consistency similar to pancake batter is reached.
Recipe FAQs
Store this cake covered at room temperature for 3 days. Avoid storing in the fridge as this will dry the cake out.
You can also freeze this cake, but do so unglazed. Wrap your cooled loaf tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. You can freeze the whole loaf or individual slices. Prepare your glaze after you’ve thawed the loaf and add it when you’re ready to enjoy.
You can find blood oranges at most conventional grocery stores December through April. Although blood oranges are the star of the show, if you can’t find them, you can substitute regular oranges for a similar cake.
I like the simple elegance of the bare cake with white, zest speckled frosting, but if you’d like to jazz it up, I suggest adding additional zest over top, candied orange segments, or candied nuts.
To cut your blood orange cake, transfer it to a cutting board. Grab a sharp knife and run it under warm water to heat it up a bit. Wipe it dry then press firmly down into the loaf in one quick motion (no sawing). This will ensure the cleanest cut and keep your cake looking perfect.
No! I like the bread like slices a loaf pan creates, however you you can definitely use a round cake pan as well. Check the cake at 45 minutes or so, because it is thinner, it will take less time to cook through. I also highly recommend still placing parchment on the bottom of the pan to avoid sticking. If you’re using a round pan, visually elevate your cake by placing slices of beautiful blood oranges on the bottom of the prepared pan before adding the batter and the slices will bake right into the cake.
Serving suggestions
Serve this olive oil cake recipe with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream (perhaps drizzled with olive oil iykyk). It is the perfect addition to a brunch spread with these Rosé Aperol Spritzes and these Goat Cheese Scrambled Eggs.
More Recipes You’ll Love
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Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- electric hand mixer
- Rubber Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Zester
- Handheld juicer
- 9×4 loaf pan
- parchment paper
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 2 blood oranges, zested and juiced
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup greek yogurt
- 1 tsp orange extract, or substitute almond extract
- 1.5 oz Cointreau, or orange liqueur
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, divided
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp olive oil
For the glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ blood orange, juiced and zested
- 1-3 tbsp almond milk, or milk of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×4 loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease any of the remaining exposed sides of the pan with butter flavored crisco.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the zest of 1 blood orange and cane sugar. Use an electric hand mixer or whisk to combine until zest is thoroughly incorporated and sugar is tinted orange.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time ensuring that the egg is fully incorporated before adding in the next. Then add in almond extract, Cointreau and greek yogurt. Whisk feverently.
- Pour in baking powder, salt, and flour. Whisk together until smooth throughout. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all of the flour.
- Fold the olive oil into the batter, making it silky. Juice the 1 ½blood oranges (save the remaining ½ for the frosting) and whisk again until smooth. Note: this won't make the batter pink. If you’re looking for that, add 1-2 drops of pink food coloring.
- Bake for 50-65 minutes**Note: oven times may vary and need to adjust +/- 10-15 minutes. The loaf is finished when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean!
- Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before adding the glaze.
- To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar and juice/zest of blood orange and optional ½ tsp orange extract. Use an electric hand mixer to combine glaze together. It will be thick. Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until glaze is spreadable.
- Remove the cake from the pan and place on a wire rack. Pour the glaze over top of the loaf. For easy cleaning, I like to place a piece of parchment under the rack because inevitably some of the glaze will drip down.
- Let the glaze harden, slice and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
other recipes that are perfect for Brunch…
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you’re using MyFitnessPal, search ‘A Paige Of Positivity’ and find BLOOD ORANGE OLIVE OIL CAKE calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
Wow – this bread is incredibly delicious and SO flavorful! I love how light and fluffy the olive oil makes it.
WOW a combination of flavors i would’ve never put all together but I’m obsessed. Citrusy, sweet, and kinda savory even (??) with the olive oil. I love it
My husband and I had a low key Easter at home this year but still wanted something “festive” for brunch. This cake was IT! The recipe was super easy to follow, even for us non-bakers, and the flavors are perfect for a spring dessert. We will definitely be adding this into our rotation for spring/summer deserts!
I’m making this for Mother’s Day and I can’t wait!!!!
Do yourself a favor… try this it’s amazing