Blood Orange Pound Cake
Blood Orange Pound Cake is a bright, citrus-kissed loaf with a moist, tender crumb and a naturally pink glaze made from fresh blood orange juice. This easy loaf cake is perfect for winter and early spring baking.
Servings: 10 servings
Equipment
- standard 9x5 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
This recipe was first published in 2012, and was retested, tweaked, and rephotographed in 2026.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 slice · Calories: 321 kcal · Carbohydrates: 47 g · Protein: 4 g · Fat: 14 g · Saturated Fat: 7 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 5 g · Trans Fat: 0.4 g · Cholesterol: 63 mg · Sodium: 241 mg · Potassium: 76 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 33 g · Vitamin A: 359 IU · Vitamin C: 2 mg · Calcium: 31 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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