This Blood Orange Pound Cake is a moist, tender orange loaf cake with a gorgeous pink glaze, all thanks to fresh-squeezed blood orange juice.
This gorgeous blood orange pound cake is almost too pretty to eat but please do. It’s bursting with citrusy flavor and there’s a delicious story behind that rosy pink glaze!
What are blood oranges?
Blood oranges are a Mediterranean variety with deep blush-colored flesh, thanks to pigments called anthocyanins ~ these antioxidant compounds turn my blood orange pound cake glaze a stunning pink.
What do blood oranges taste like? They have a unique, almost berry-like flavor, and the ruby red blood orange juice is amazing to drink on its own. That juice is great in salad dressings and cocktails, too.
And I make these Blood Orange Crumble Bars with my own homemade Blood Orange Jam!
From the outside they look just like regular oranges, so check the labels and keep an eye out for them in your produce section.
I use my special method for infusing citrus zest into sugar for this and many of my orange and lemon based recipes. It doubles the intensity of orange flavor.
You can also use orange extract in this recipe. It’s optional but it bumps up the citrus flavor in baking and comes in handy when you can’t add enough fresh juice to create strong flavor without upsetting the delicate liquid to flour ratio in a recipe. Make sure to get pure orange extract, not artificial flavoring. I have Nielsen–Massey in my pantry.
Don’t skip the glaze, it gives the perfect acidic pop to every bite. I like to make it fairly thick so it stays (mostly) put. It’s too delicious to lose a single drop!
blood orange juice + powdered sugar = gorgeous glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar (no need to sift)
- 2 Tbsp strained blood orange juice, or more to get your desired consistency.
faqs and baking tips for blood orange pound cake
There are a few different types of blood orange, Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinello. Slice open a blood orange and the flesh can be anything from rosy to almost black, depending on where they’re grown and the specific growing conditions.
Yes, it would make a delicious orange pound cake. No changes needed.
1. Yogurt
Use whole milk yogurt thinned with milk:
3/8 cup yogurt + 2 Tbsp milk
2. Sour cream
3/8 cup sour cream + 2 Tbsp milk
Yes, use a good 1:1 gf baking mix like King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill.
This cake keeps at room temperature for 2 days, and up to 5 days refrigerated.
To freeze:
~ Let the glaze set completely (no tackiness)
~ Freeze the cake uncovered for about an hour until the glaze is firm
~ Then wrap tightly in plastic, followed by foil
~ Freeze up to 1–2 months
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Blood Orange Pound Cake
Equipment
- standard 9×5 loaf pan
- parchment paper optional
Ingredients
dry ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
wet ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- zest of 1 orange, peeled with a vegetable peeler (orange part, not the bitter white pith)
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1/8 cup blood orange juice
- 3/8 cup buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp orange extract, optional
- 1/2 tsp vanilla paste, or extract
glaze
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 Tbsp blood orange juice, or more to thin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and butter your loaf pan. Line with a sling of parchment paper if desired.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
- Put the sugar and peeled orange zest into the bowl of a food processor and pulse/process until all the zest has been incorporated and you're left with a moist frangrant orange sugar.
- In a stand mixer or with electric beaters cream the butter and orange sugar you've just made together until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape again!
- Measure the orange juice in a glass measuring cup and then fill to the 1/2 cup mark with buttermilk. Add the oil, extract and vanilla paste.
- Alternately add the dry ingredients along with the wet, to the creamed butter mixture, beginning and ending with the dry. Don't over mix, but be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so everything is evenly incorporated.
- Turn batter into your prepared loaf pan and spread out evenly.
- Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake this loaf cake.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out to a rack. Let cool completely before glazing.
- To make the glaze, mix the sugar with enough of the juice to create a nice glaze consistency. Spread or drizzle on the cooled cake. If your glaze is too thin, you will lose a lot of it to 'run off'. I like to make it on the thick side and spread it with a knife or spreader.
Notes
Nutrition
pound cakes galore!
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Hi Sue. I do love blood oranges and pound cake, what a lovely combination! I’d love to try this but I’ve just been diagnosed pre-diabetic 😔. Is there any way to make this with a sugar substitute? I’m a baker but am new to the sugar substitutes, what would you suggest?
Best option: use a granulated 1:1 sugar substitute (like monkfruit/erythritol blend or allulose).
Swap it cup-for-cup for the sugar in the cake and glaze. Texture will be a little different, but it will still rise and slice. Hope this helps!
Fantastic!!!! I had a piece of blood orange pound cake at a cafe last week and loved it! Thought I’d try to make my own to use with a chocolate fondue. Looked around and decided to try this one. The recipe was easy enough. I didn’t have buttermilk, but made some with milk and lemon juice. The concoction with buttermilk, blood orange juice, zest, and vanilla paste looked – honestly – like vomit. But I went with it. And voila!
The cake is INCREDIBLY moist and filled with flavor. The top baked to a beautiful and crispy golden brown (the crisp thanks to the buttermilk and sugars), and the it was loved by all – on its own or dipped in chocolate. I didn’t make the glaze, and the cake was perfect without it.
I’m thrilled you loved this Liz, thanks for the comment 🙂
I wish you would list the baking-recipes in grams. I’ve tried some of the baking recipes on your blog, and they failed, and I think its because cup-measurements can be so unprecise. – I say this because I really love your recipes & blog
You can use the toggle button right opposite the list of ingredients ~ it gives you the choice of metric or volume.
Hi Sue, I love your recipes. I’m making this next week. Did you use an 8×4 or 9×5 loaf pan? Do you recall how many slices you got? Thanks.
This was made in a standard 9×5 pan.
So appreciate your reply, thanks. That’s what I’ll use.
Suzie here again! I made the cake using regular oranges cause that’s what I had. Came out great! Two things: definitely use 8×4″ pan – I could see the batter was not enough for 9×5″ and used the smaller pan. Also, is it typical for a loaf cake to be higher in the center than the sides? I felt the slices from the sides were not quite as big as the ones in the middle. Just love your recipes!