Blood orange syrup cake with candied peel.

Up until two weeks ago my recipe of choice at this time of year had always been the blood orange and pistachio cakes that I shared in my Baking Advent Calendar day 10 post. Then I discovered Tamal Ray’s blood orange syrup cake with candied peel and suddenly there’s a new favourite in this house. So much so that I’ve baked two in the last fortnight and the request is already in for a third.

Blood oranges have a relatively short season, only being available during late winter and spring. You will occasionally see them referred to as blush oranges but to the best of my knowledge that’s only retailers getting slightly worried that customers might not want to buy something with blood in its name.

When you cut into a blood orange the flesh of the fruit is a deep ruby colour and in some varieties this coloration can be seen on the skin as well. The taste is clearly citrus but I always think that there are deeps hints of raspberry in there, as well as orange. Although grown in some other parts of the world now, they were originally native to southern Italy and in particular Sicily. 

In addition to the taste benefits that this rather wonderful fruit can bring to your cooking and baking there are health benefits as well. The oranges are packed full of of anthocyanin, the same compound that is found in blueberries and raspberries. This compound has been found to improve cardiovascular health, protect from UV damage and to act as a potent antioxidant. You can find more detailed information on the health benefits of blood oranges via this link.10-health-facts-about-blood-oranges

The cake that this recipe produces is very moist and sticky. As long as it’s keep in an air tight container it will stay fresh for days. That of course is assuming you can resist the strong temptation to eat the whole thing very quickly.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 150g salted butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 250g ground almonds
• 60g polenta
• 3 large eggs
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp baking powder

For the candied peel

• 80g caster sugar
• 2 blood oranges pared with a zester to give thin strips. Try to keep the zest as thin as possible when you are removing it from the orange.

For the syrup

• 60g caster sugar
• 140g blood orange juice (this should equate to the juice from two oranges)

Method

• Preheat the oven to gas mark 4
• To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. I use a food mixer for this. Then stir in by hand all other cake ingredients.
• Pour the ingredients into a lined 900g loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes.
• To make the candied peel, mix the sugar with 120ml of water in a saucepan over medium heat. When the sugar is melted add the zest and let it simmer for fives minutes. Remove the zest with a fork and leave it on a plate to cool.
• To make the syrup, pour the sugar and orange juice into a pan and boil for five minutes. Try and time the making of the syrup so that it is still warm when you come to pour it over the cake.
• As soon as the cake has come out of the oven poke holes all over the top and then pour over the syrup.
• Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin before you turn it out. Once you have done this scatter the candied peel over the top. 

The biggest problem I have now is deciding whether to leave this cake just for blood orange time of year or whether to risk disappointment and make it with navel oranges at other times.