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| The Wet Ingredients |
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| The Flour |
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| The Dry Ingredients |
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| Mixing the Wet Ingredients into the Dry |
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| The Blood Orange Segments |
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| The Greased Pan |
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| Adding the Orange Segments into the Batter |
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| The Cake Batter in the Pan before Baking |
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| A Blood Orange with Top and Bottom Removed |
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| Badly Supremed Orange |
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| Honey-Blood Orange Compote |
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| Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake just after it came out of the oven |
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| A slice of cake with compote and whipped cream |
I did not know what supreming an orange meant before I made this cake. I saw no need to learn about it until I read the recipe. You might say I taught myself how to "supreme" an orange by watching this video on www.youtube.com. The video helped me understand what I was supposed to do. Too bad I didn't watch the video before I started the process. This cake is not difficult to make except for "supreming" the orange. Once you learn how to do that though, it is easy. I'm here to tell you that I made a few mistakes with this cake. Here goes: I left out the 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, I put the wet ingredients into the dry instead of the other way around and I left the membrane on the blood orange segments I put into the cake. I was surprised that the cake still rose nicely even without the baking powder. I don't know if I'll try making this cake again but at least I learned how to "supreme" an orange! The oranges that I did a fair job supreming are the ones I used for the Honey-Blood Orange Compote. The honey I used for the compote is orange blossom honey from a local family-owned business called The Bee Folks.
Even with my mistakes, this cake tastes yummy.
Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
Time: 1 hr. 20 mins. Plus cooling
Ingredients:
Butter for greasing pan
3 blood oranges
1 cup sugar
Buttermilk or plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Honey-blood orange compote, for serving (optional) (see note)
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5 –inch loaf pan. Grate zest from 2 oranges and place in a bowl with sugar. Using your fingers, rub ingredients together until orange zest is evenly distributed in sugar.
2. Supreme an orange: cut off bottom and top so fruit is exposed and orange can stand upright on a cutting board. Cut away peel and pith, following curve of fruit with your knife. Cut orange segments out of their connective membrane and let them fall into a bowl. Repeat with another orange. Break up segments with your fingers to about 1/4 –inch pieces.
3. Halve remaining orange and squeeze juice into a measuring cup. You will have about ¼ cup or so. Add buttermilk or yogurt to juice until you have 2/3 cup liquid altogether. Pour mixture into bowl with sugar and whisk well. Whisk in eggs.
4. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently whisk dry ingredients into wet ones. Switch to a spatula and fold in oil a little at a time. Fold in pieces of orange segments. Scrape batter into pan and smooth top.
5. Bake cake for about 55 minute, or until it is golden and a knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool to room temperature right-side up. Serve with whipped cream and honey-blood orange compote, if desired.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings.
Note: To make honey-blood orange compote, supreme 3 more blood oranges according to directions in Step 2. Drizzle in 1 to 2 teaspoons honey. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir gently.
