These last couple of months, I’ve been on a hunt. No not on a manhunt, but yes I am on one of those too. No a hunt for blood oranges. These seasonal temptresses need to be sniffed out and the source is returned to again and again until they have scuttled off for the year. Yes, I am painting myself very much in the image of a blood orange hound. Attractive- non?
Now I came upon some in my lovely local greengrocer and instead of doing what every normal person does and maybe buy a few and savour the short-seasoned fruit – me naw I buy a glut of them and then wonder what on earth am I going to do with them all. With these beautiful bloody fruits, I made a Blood Orange and Almond Cake. My oranges varied in bloodiness so got a half and half effect on mine. Next time I think I would scatter over some muscovado sugar on the base of the tin before adding the orange segments to caramelise them slightly.
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Blood Orange and Almond Cake
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 3 Blood Oranges (zested, peeled and segmented)
- 170g Unsalted Butter
- 170g Caster Sugar
- 150g Self-Raising Flour
- 25g Ground Almonds
- 3 Large Free Range Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Using a sexy Microplane grater (they were a treat to myself when I visited an incredible kitchenware shop in Boston and are really the best graters in the world.), zest the three oranges and place the zest into the bowl of a stand mixer, like my sexy Kitchenaid.
- Segment the oranges and arrange on the bottom of an 8″ non-stick cake tin. My oranges varied in bloodiness as you can see below, but I kind of like the lottery feel when you reveal the flesh. Scatter over some muscovado sugar if you like.
- Oven to 180C, in the Kitchenaid, add the butter and sugar with the zest. Beat until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, then the almonds, flour and vanilla extract until nicely combined. Carefully pour the batter over the segments, being careful not to move them around. Bake for 20 mins, until golden and comes away from the sides. Cool in the tin before turning out.
- Turn out the cake on to a flouncy plate and tuck in. Due to the juice in the oranges and almonds, this cake stays lovely and moist, so perfect to keep for a couple of days, that is if you can rein in your housemates/ guests.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
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