Blood Orange Loaf Cake. Gluten free.

This Orange Loaf Cake is easy to make. I used Red Belly Blood Oranges to make it even more delicious.

This Blood Orange Loaf Cake is really quite the stunner. It is easy too, you just need to make it using a food processor, throwing in all ingredients to just combine. It literally takes minutes. That’s because I have done all the hard yards for you and worked on this recipe till it behaved. I made this 8 times. I was like a dog with a bone. Each and every loaf was delicious (and got eaten) but they had a hole in the centre when cut open. It drove me crazy. But this now is perfected.

It’s made with Australian blood oranges. I think Red Belly Citrus who grew these may have perfected their oranges too, which is why I worked so hard to make sure this recipe was a winner. Last year they sent me some Oranges and I made this Warm Blood Orange and Olive Oil Cake and this Blood Orange Cheese Cake Brownie.  This year the oranges were just as freaking amazing so I needed this cake to be great.

I am going to tell you about them because you just will not believe the colour. I know there are other blood oranges out there but really if someone does something well, something you admire you just want to praise them. That’s Red Belly Citrus. After three generations of farming the Mancini’s, Australian decedents of a Sicilian family have managed to capture the colour and flavour of the blood oranges on their property near Griffith. Here they have found the temperature variations that make a blood orange do it’s extraordinary colour transformation.

I also made this really lovely snack when I had visitors drop by. I paired the blood Oranges with Goats Cheese and it was definitely a winner. Put a cup of ruby Red Belly juice into a pot with a cup of sugar and reduce the syrup by half before drizzling the chilled syrup over fresh Goat Cheese log. I added toasted walnuts and some small pieces of blood orange.

I even made them into an unusual breakfast. White polenta is one of my favourites. I always eat too much. At least this bowlful didn’t have cheese in it. I made it with water finishing off with a little vanilla and honey. I ate it with filleted blood oranges and a little sweetened syrup. I added  just a touch of rose water. Can you imagine?. Always and always crunchy nuts and seeds because I can not live with out them…. and this is what you get.

BUT.

Back to that Blood Orange Loaf Cake.

That’s why we are here after all.

Don’t forget to watch the video. I can’t imagine why you couldn’t make it with other citrus fruits too. Oh no, I have thrown myself another challenge there.

Blood Orange Loaf cake

4.75 from 4 votes

It's quick and easy to make this in the food processor. in fact it works best as this breaks down the orange peel into the sugar making the flavour deliciously intense

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Servings: 12

Course: Cake

Cuisine: cake

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

1 x loaf tin 24 x 10 cm (9.5 x 4 inches) lined with baking paper. Oven 170 C / 340 F

• 1 whole orange The peel of one whole
• 125 ml juice blood orange, 1/2 cup
• 200 gm caster sugar 3/4 cup
• 2 whole eggs
• 100 ml olive oil or other veg based oil
• 150 gm almond meal or other nut
• 150 gm gluten free flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting

• 1.5 tablespoon orange juice
• 140 gm icing sugar mixture make sure it is gluten free

Method

 

1. Put the zest and sugar into the food processor and process till the sugar turns orange.
2. Add the eggs, oil , salt and orange juice and process to combine
3. Add the nut meal and plain gluten free flour along with the soda. pulse once or twice just to combine.
4. Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen. Lift the loaf out of the tin and cool completely.
5. Put the icing sugar into a bowl and add the 1 tablespoon of juice. Stir well. Add another teaspoon of juice and stir again. if needed add another teaspoon of the juice and stir till smooth.
6. Spread over the cake and leave to dry.

Notes

1. Don't use a Self raising flour here. This will mess up the balance of soda and acid.
2. When making the icing add just a little liquid at a time giving it enough time to hydrate. If the icing has too much liquid in it it won't dry. in fact it will just drip off the cake.
3.To make this loaf without a food processor, zest the orange and then squeeze it . Then mix all the ingredients together.

4.To make the loaf with all purpose flour flow these directions
The zest of 1 orange
125 ml juice
250 gm (1 full cup) of caster sugar
2 eggs
100 ml oil
250 gm plain flour
1 teaspoon bi carb + 1/2 teaspoon salt