This recipe for a Blood Orange Olive Oil cake combines beautiful seasonal Blood Oranges and the use of Olive oil makes it wonderfully moist and flavoursome without being too sweet. It is topped with Blood Orange slices for a real showstopper dessert.
- Grease a 20cm round cake tin with olive oil and line the base with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 190C.
- Take the blood oranges and carefully cut into thin rounds (as thin as you can go!). Start by sprinkling 30g of the golden caster sugar on the bottom of the cake tin, over the paper. Then arrange the slices on top of the in a nice circular pattern. Use the end pieces of the blood oranges to squeeze over any remaining juice and then set aside while you make the cake batter.
- In a large mixing bowl mix together the plain flour, semolina, baking powder and Maldon salt. Adding salt to your baking helps balance and enhance flavours, it balances sweetness and acidity.
- Next in a smaller bowl mix together the orange juice and zest, vanilla extract and olive oil.
- Place the eggs and sugar into a stand mixer – or you can use an electric whisk – and beat them together until they are pale and fluffy. Next add the dry ingredients, followed by the wet ingredients and beat until smooth.
- Pour the cake batter into the tin on top of the orange slices and smooth over the top. Place the cake tin into the preheated oven and bake for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown on top and cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Then carefully remove from the cake tin before turning it upside down onto a plate and peeling off the baking paper. Allow the cake to then cool completely before slicing and serving with crème fraiche.
