This soft Blood Orange Bundt Cake is perfectly moist, loaded with fresh citrus flavor and drizzled with simple blood orange glaze.
There is something special about bundt cakes. Perfectly formed, simple and yet so beautiful. They are totally fuss-free when it comes to preparation and are ready in a matter of minutes. No need for filling or special decorations, just a simple drizzle of icing and the bundt cake is ready to be the star of the table. Perfectly simple, moist and tasty.
I've baked this orange cake a few weeks back, but I haven't had time to add anything to my blog. My husband and I have been working both from home, like the rest of the Italians, and days have been very busy. This is the third week of our country's quarantine and we are taking things very seriously.
With the whole social-distancing and empty supermarkets, I am trying to optimize what we have at home and prepare wholesome food that is delicious and comforting at the same time. I've baked bread and some new spring recipes, did some spring cleaning and enjoyed the sunshine that we had last week. Spring is here and I actually can't believe that March is almost over. With everything that happens around us and busy days, time just flies. Our garden transformed in a blink of an eye and our plum, apricot, and peach trees are all in bloom. Peonies are queens of the garden again.
I can see that people around the world find comfort in baking and cooking and I am happy to see that this forced staying home actually results in shared, warm moments around the table. Who knows, maybe after all this has passed we will continue appreciating those special meals again.
Just before the whole country went on lockdown, a dear friend of mine, who knows how crazy I get about bakeware, got me this beautiful bundt cake for my birthday. If you haven't heard for Nordic Ware before, they make the dreamiest pans you can find on the market. Besides amazing quality, the shapes of their bundt cakes will make your cakes look stunning. The one I've used for the recipe is Crown Bundt Cake, which you can find here.
The orange season has been amazing this year, and I've been so grateful for enjoying tasteful, fresh Italian oranges the whole winter. Besides having a fresh orange as my morning routine, I love adding them to my dishes as their tangy, citrus tones give an amazing perfume and freshness to my recipes.
This blood orange bundt cake is soft and perfectly moist, filled with refreshing orange tones and dressed up with the prettiest naturally pink orange glaze. With its magnificent shape and amazing taste, this blood orange bundt cake makes a perfect dessert for any party - from regular brunch with family or even Easter lunch, this bundt cake will definitely be appreciated!
If you haven't worked with blood oranges before, they are much sweeter than regular oranges, and along with their bursting red color, they tend to have a noticeable and delicious raspberry edge to their flavor. Its color ranges from bursting to dark red and their juice is a perfect natural coloring of your buttercreams or glaze.
Of course, if you have regular oranges you can use them instead, but you should know that your glaze will not have this vibrant, pink color. The taste will be amazing as well, so you can try both combinations. This is one of those easy recipes, made in one bowl and within several minutes which makes it even more inviting. Less work for an amazing result, who can say no to that? 🙂
While I hope you are all safe at home, I leave you with the recipe and hope to see your versions soon. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @thehungryapron and use #makingordinarymagical so we can all share these special moments at home.
Stay home and stay safe!
Blood orange bundt cake
Marija Gvozdenovic
Serves 12
Prep. time 10 minutes
Baking time 50-60 minutes
INGREDIENTS
For the BUNDT CAKE
380g all-purpose flour
16g baking powder
pinch of salt
170ml sunflower oil
180g light brown sugar
4 eggs
1 tbsp orange zest
180ml buttermilk
180ml fresh orange juice
FOR THE GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tsp orange juice
METHOD
Prepare the bundt cake:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat together sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the sunflower oil, blood orange juice, and orange zest. Combine everything well. Add buttermilk and half of the dry mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula, just until combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and stir again until all ingredients are incorporated.
Grease and flour your pan (I find that softened butter works much better than oil for Nordic Ware pans). Make sure to get all the surface covered, especially if you are using decorated pan like mine to avoid breaking the cake in those delicate points. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. As I am using a 10 cup bundt pan for this recipe, it needs more time to bake. If you are using a smaller bundt cake pan, start checking your bundt cake after 35 minutes. Once baked, let it cool for 10-15 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter.
Prepare the blood orange glaze:
In a small bowl, mix the blood orange juice, and powdered sugar. If the mixture appears too runny, add more powdered sugar. As the bundt cake is dense and rich in flavor, a thinner, pourable glaze is better, but you can adjust it to your liking. Pour the glaze on top of the cake and serve.
Notes:
The ingredients indicated are for 10-cup bundt cake.
The cake can be stored up to 4 days or frozen up to 6 months.
If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute it with the same amount of milk plus 2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice.