Blood Orange Bundt Cake

The end of winter is blood orange season here in California, and the farmer's markets and grocery stores are starting to show signs of this wonderful occurrence. I love the color of blood oranges, not really a "blood" color, but more of a deep, almost purpley, magenta. I picked some up at the market because I wanted to incorporate them into a dish I'm adding to the Gojee potluck. Gojee is having an actual potluck in New York city, but they're also creating a digital potluck for all us out of town bloggers to participate in too. It will be fun to see what everyone else makes, although I am kinda sad I won't be able to actually eat any of it through the screen. So, I decided to make a bundt cake with the blood oranges because cake seemed like a fitting item for a potluck. I also had some orange blossom water, (weird thing to have in the cupboard, I know, but Greeks use rose water and orange blossom water from time to time in desserts), which I decided to incorporate into the glaze. The cake came out wonderfully, very rich and moist, and the floral notes in the glaze paired well with the citrus in the cake. I had hoped it would come out pinkish inside, but alas it did not. When I make it again I think I might put a few drops of red food coloring in the batter to give it that fun, pink hue I was hoping for. If you're really digging the idea of a potluck, on Thursday January 26th you can take a peek at other potluck dishes fellow gojee contributors shared for some inspiration. Go to gojee.com and enter “gojee potluck” into I Crave.  You can also follow #gojeepotluck on Twitter.

Ingredients:

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

4 Blood Oranges

4 Eggs
3 Cups Flour

2 and 1/2 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Buttermilk 

1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Coriander

Orange Blossom Glaze

1 and 3/4 Cups Powdered Sugar

3 Tablespoons Hot Milk
1/4 Teaspoon Orange Blossom Water

1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Click Here For Printable Recipe

Cut the oranges into quarters and remove the peel. Place the orange pieces in a blender with the heavy cream. Place the lid on the blender and blend at a high speed (my blender was set to 'liquify') for one minute until smooth. Turn blender off and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, olive oil, and butter until a coarse paste forms. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract and mix until completely combined. Set it aside.

In a  medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and coriander until well blended. Set aside.

Add 1/2 of the blood orange mixture to the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture and beat until combined. Add the remaining half of the blood orange mixture and beat until combined. Finally, add the last half of the flour mixture and beat until combined.

Pour the batter into a well-greased bundt cake pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the bundt cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for about 8 minutes before attempting to remove the cake from the pan. Run a rubber spatula around the edges of the pan to gently loosen up the cake's grip on the pan, then place a plate on top of the bundt pan and, grasping both the pan and the plate on top of it, flip it over and set it down on a flat surface. Gently lift the bundt pan up and the cake should remain on the plate. Allow the cake to continue to cool on the plate while you prepare the glaze.

For the glaze, whisk together the hot milk, orange blossom water, and vanilla extract. Add the powdered sugar and mix until the glaze forms. Drizzle the glaze over the bundt cake and slice and serve immediately.