Blood Orange Teacake

I am a fan of blood oranges, with their ruby red centres and juice.  Accordingly, when I saw some at Queen Victoria  Market recently, I snapped them up.

Coincidentally, I had also recently acquired a copy of Phillippa's Home Baking by Phillippa Grogan and Richard Cornish.  In this gorgeous book, among many other excellent recipes, there was a recipe for Blood Orange Teacake.  I thought it was serendipitous, given my recent purchase of blood oranges.

The blood orange teacake has blood orange zest  and juice in the cake, candied orange slices on top and blood orange juice in the  topping.  The cake is a beautiful butter cake.  I used eggs given to me by a colleague, making it extra special.

This cake was popular with my colleagues and disappeared quickly - a testament to how tasty it is.

To make this cake, you will need:

2 blood oranges
200g butter
160g sugar + extra for candying the oranges
3 eggs
200g plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Grease and line a 21.5cm x 11.5cm loaf tin.

Zest both of the oranges, leaving a 2cm wide circle of skin around one of the oranges.  Cut three thin slices of orange where you have left the circle of skin.

Leaving the orange slices aside, juice the remainder of the oranges.  Three tablespoons of juice will be used in the cake, and the rest in the topping.

Place the butter, sugar and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and creamy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, combining the first egg well before adding the next.

Mix the flour and baking powder together in a bowl.

Fold the flour into the batter alternately with three tablespoons of blood orange juice, in three batches. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until cooked through when tested.  Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before unmoulding onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the topping, weigh the remaining  blood orange juice and add it plus an equal amount of sugar to a small saucepan.  Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Next, add the three blood orange slices and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Brush three tablespoons of glaze over the top of the cake while it is still warm, and decorate the cake with the three slices of candied blood orange.

Slice and enjoy!