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.
Table of Contents
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, 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 zest and also the juice in this cake.
- 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 - 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.
- 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 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 9x4 loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease any of the remaining exposed sides of the pan with butter flavored crisco.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the zest of 1 blood orange and cane sugar. Use an electric hand mixer to combine until zest is thoroughly incorporated and sugar is tinted orange.
3. Add the olive oil and continue mixing with an electric hand mixer until the sugar absorbs all of the oil.
4. 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.
5. Pour in baking powder, salt, and ~¼ of flour. Beat together until smooth throughout.
6. In alternating fashion, add parts of the flour and milk. Beat in 3 increments until all of the flour and milk are added. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl and fold batter together.
7. Lastly, add the blood orange juice into the batter. Mix for another 10-15 seconds with a mixer until combined. Note: this will not be enough to tint the bread pink. If you’re looking for that, add 1-2 drops of pink food coloring.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and place in the oven. Immediately, reduce the heat of the oven to 300°F. (why do this? It allows our bread to rise more and slowly bake the insides at the same time)
9. Bake for 1 hour and 5 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.
10. To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar, melted butter, 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. Note: we do NOT want it to be runny. We want a thicker glaze that will harden after being poured on the loaf.
11. Remove the cake from the pan and place on a wire rack. Once completely cooled, 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. Slice and enjoy!
Expert Tips
Properly measure your ingredients. The perfect ratio of wet and dry ingredients will result in the silky, delicate 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 in the 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 almond 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 navel 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 peel, or candied nuts.
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Recipe
Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- electric hand mixer
- Rubber Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Zester
- Handheld juicer
- 9x4 loaf pan
- parchment paper
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1 blood orange, zested and juiced
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp almond extract, or substitute orange extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, divided
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup almond milk, or milk of choice
- butter flavored crisco, for greasing the pan
For the glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- ½ blood orange, juiced and zested
- 1-3 tbsp almond milk, or milk of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9x4 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 to combine until zest is thoroughly incorporated and sugar is tinted orange.
- Add the olive oil and continue mixing with an electric hand mixer until the sugar absorbs all of the oil.
- 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.
- Pour in baking powder, salt, and approximately ¼ of flour. Beat together until smooth throughout.
- In alternating fashion, add parts of the flour and milk. Beat in 3 additional increments until all of the flour and milk are added. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl and fold batter together.
- Lastly, add the blood orange juice into the batter. Mix for another 10-15 seconds with a mixer until combined. Note: this will not be enough to tint the bread pink. If you’re looking for that, add 1-2 drops of pink food coloring.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and place in the oven. Immediately, reduce the heat of the oven to 300°F (why do this? It allows our bread to rise more and slowly bake the insides at the same time).
- Bake for 1 hour and 5 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, melted butter, 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
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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!
Courtney Paige says
Wow - this bread is incredibly delicious and SO flavorful! I love how light and fluffy the olive oil makes it.
Sydney Van Acker says
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
Audrey M says
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!
Amy Jo says
I’m making this for Mother’s Day and I can’t wait!!!!