It’s no secret that I adore blood oranges. In fact, this is now my fifth cake recipe featuring these blushing beauties!

I’m forever dreaming up new ways to incorporate them into my cooking/baking.

This particular recipe celebrates the marriage of the classic combo. Chocolate and orange. In fact – it’s like terry’s chocolate orange in cake format, just, I dunno, elevated.

Think: moist orange zest infused sponge, randomly studded with dark and white chocolate pockets, topped with moreish whipped mascarpone cream and finished off with beautiful candied orange segments.

❤

The perfect little pop of colour a drab February day needs.

Stunning and delicious!

Enjoy,

– Kay

Ingredients

Cake

• 200g caster sugar
• 110g salted butter
• 2 medium eggs
• Zest of 2 blood oranges
• 165g flour
• 0.5tsp baking soda
• 120ml buttermilk
• Juice of half a blood orange

Frosting

• 50g icing sugar
• 50g mascarpone
• 400ml double cream

Candied blood oranges

• 1 blood orange, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of granulated sugar

Instructions

Cake

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180, grease and line your small loaf tin.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well between each addition.
4. Add the orange zest, mixing once again.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda, mix well.
6. Add a third of the flour mix to the sugar and butter mixture, mix to combine, before adding half of the buttermilk.
7. Repeat this process until all your ingredients have been added. Don’t over mix!
8. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45mins – 50mins or until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. Once done brush over with the blood orange juice and set aside on a wire rack to cool.

Frosting

1. Add all the ingredients to a large bowl. Whisk until the mixture holds and is just thick enough to pipe – avoid over whisking as the cream will curdle! [Do this just before you’re ready to decorate!]

Candied Blood Oranges

1. Add the sugar and water to a heavy bottomed frying pan. Heat on medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. Add the sliced blood oranges in a single layer. If they overlap slightly, this is fine as they’ll shrink a little once they start cooking.
3. Leave to simmer gently for 45-60 minutes turning over occasionally throughout.
4. Once done, remove and leave on a wire rack to cool then cut each slice into halves.

Assembly

1. Once the cake has cooled, use a piping bag and round ended tip to create lines of frosting, zigzagging back and forth.
2. Top randomly with pieces of candied blood orange.