Blood Orange Madeira Cake

My appreciation for blood oranges is well documented on this blog. Both beautiful and tasty, they make great additions to baking. And because I’ve been on vacation since Christmas (I have to go back to work tomorrow, sigh) and I’ve been watching a lot of Great British Baking Show re-runs, I realized that one perfect use for blood oranges would be in Madeira cake. And I was right.

I adapted my previous Madeira cake recipe to use a 9 x 5 (rather than an 8 x 4) loaf tin and included the zest and juice of two blood oranges instead of just one. The end result is a delicious, aromatic creation that needs absolutely nothing to enhance it, though you could certainly serve it with some whipped cream if you like.

Ingredients

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf tin, then line the tin with parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes, scraping the bowl well at least a few times.

Add the first egg and one spoonful of flour mixture, beating to combine. Scrape down the bowl, then repeat with remaining eggs and one spoonful of flour mixture for each egg, scraping the bowl between each. Add remaining flour and orange juice and mix until combined; batter will be quite thick.

Spoon batter into the pan and smooth out the top, then sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the top. Bake for about 45 minutes, then cover with foil and continue baking for another 10-20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan completely, then lift out by the parchment and store, well wrapped, at room temperature. Makes about 10 servings.