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slice of blood orange olive oil cake on white plate garnished with blood orange slice.
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5 from 67 votes

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

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.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Course: brunch, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: bakery, cafe
Servings: 10
Calories: 338kcal

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!

Notes

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. 
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.
Store this cake covered at room temperature for 3 days or freeze it unglazed for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 slice | Calories: 338kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 267mg | Potassium: 32mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 40g