Blood Orange Pound Cake
A moist, delicious, easy to make pound cake with triple orange flavor - orange zest, an orange soaking syrup and finished with a blood orange glaze.
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 406kcal
Ingredients
CAKE RELEASE
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
POUND CAKE
- 2.75 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2.5 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons blood orange zest 4 to 5 oranges
- 5 eggs room temperature
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed blood orange juice – 1-1/2 oranges
- 1 cup sour cream
SOAKING SYRUP
- 1/2 cup blood orange juice
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
BLOOD ORANGE GLAZE
- 1-1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons blood orange juice
Instructions
FOR THE PAN
- Stir together the butter and flour in a small bowl until a paste forms. Using a pastry brush, coat all interior surfaces of a 12 cup Bundt pan. (If mixture becomes too thick to brush on, microwave it for about 10 seconds, or until warm and softened.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
FOR THE CAKE
- Crack the eggs into a separate bowl. Put the flour, baking powder and salt together in another bowl and combine with a whisk.
- Place the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and grate the blood orange zest directly into the bowl. Use your fingers to rub the zest and sugar together. This method better releases the oils and flavor of the orange zest into the batter.
- For this cake you will need 1 cup in total of blood orange juice - 1/4 cup for the cake, 1/2 cup for the soaking syrup and about 1/4 cup for the glaze. After zesting your oranges juice them until you 1 cup of juice.
- Add the butter and vanilla to the sugar orange zest mixture. Beat the butter, sugar , vanilla and orange zest on medium-high speed until the butter and sugar are fluffy, about 8 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl. Add eggs one at a time on low speed and then increase to medium until each egg is well incorporated. Stop the mixer after adding the first 3 eggs and scrape the bowl from the bottom to ensure the ingredients are well mixed. Add the remaining 2 eggs and scrape the down the after adding the last egg.
- Add 1/4 cup of blood orange juice and mix on medium until well combined.
- Add one-third of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until well combined, but do not over mix. Add one-half of the sour cream and mix on medium speed until well combined. Add half of the remaining dry ingredients, then the rest of the sour cream. Add the remaining the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
FOR THE SOAKING SYRUP
- When the cake is almost done combine 1/2 cup blood orange juice and 1/2 cup the sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until it just begins to thicken. Add the butter and whisk until butter is thoroughly combined into the glaze.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place on a cake rack. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert onto a cake rack. Brush the entire surface with the glaze, using all the glaze. Allow the cake to completely cool, about 90 minutes.
FOR THE ORANGE GLAZE
- Place the cake and the rack over a plate to catch the excess glaze.
- Combine the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of the orange juice. Stir the mixture with a spoon until it is smooth and slightly runny. At this point, you can decide if you want a slightly thinner glaze. If so add 1 more tablespoon of juice. Continue to stir until well combined. Slowly spoon the glaze over the cake.
- The cake is now ready to serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 406kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 179mg | Potassium: 142mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 610IU | Vitamin C: 13.9mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1.4mg