Blood Orange and Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Firmly in the corner of ‘cakes to cut and keep’, this one stands out thanks to its even texture and delicate lemon-ness. The blood orange adds beautiful colour and the Terry’s Chocolate Orange is optional, naturally.

For 6
10 minutes preparation
50 – 55 minutes baking

175ml olive oil
250g sugar
3 large eggs
125ml half fat milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated zest of a lemon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons baking powder
250g plain flour

For the accompaniment and glaze
2 – 3 blood oranges
2 tablespoons sugar

Heat the oven to 180C, oil a loaf pan and line the bottom also, if you wish.

Beat all the ingredients except the flour and the baking powder until they are combined and quite frothy. Fold in the flour and baking powder, pour the batter into the tin.

Bake for 50 – 55 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, grate the zest of the oranges, peel them with a sharp knife and cut out the segments over a bowl to catch all the juice. Squeeze the remaining pulp to get it all. Squeeze the rest of the lemon juice in also if you like. Mix it all together in the bowl and leave aside.

Remove the cake from the oven, run a sharp knife down the sides of the cake to ensure smooth turning out. But before doing that, mix two or three tablespoons of juice with the sugar and cover the top of the warm cake.

Leave to cool and dry completely before turning out, cutting and serving with the oranges.

@TrishDeseine

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