Blood Orange Bundt Cake

One of the best things about winter is that it's citrus season! More specifically, blood orange season. I just love how pretty they make everything. The pretty pink glaze is perfect for a Valentine's Day treat! This blood orange bundt cake is light, buttery, and has just the right amount of citrus flavor. It's sure to be a crowd pleaser!

One of my biggest pet peeves with cake recipes is when they aren't easily divisible. Especially when it comes to bundt cakes because I have both 10 cup and 5 cup pans and so I like to be able to easily half my recipe but halving 3 eggs, for example, is just annoying. All of that to say, this recipe is for a 10 cup bundt pan but can easily be divided in half for a smaller pan!

Make the Batter

The batter is super quick and easy to make!
Start by creaming together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat until fully combined. Mix in the orange juice and almond extract until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and then slowly add to wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.

Prepare the Bundt Pan

To get your cake to slide right out of the pan every time, use these tips!!

1. Generously coat the inside of the bundt pan with a vegetable oil cooking spray. I love Everbake Pan Spray but any vegetable oil spray will work. You don't want to use butter though as the milk solids can solidify during baking and cause your cake to stick in some of the smaller crevices.
2. Evenly dust with a light coating of nut flour. For this recipe I use almond flour but for a different chocolate recipe I use hazelnut flour. Why nut flour? It acts as a barrier and crisps up in a way that regular flour doesn't which allows the cake to just slide right out of the pan.
3. Don't prepare the pan until right before you pour the batter in. If you let the prepared pan sit for too long, the oil and flour may start to slide down and pool in the bottom making them effectively useless.
4. Using a high quality non-stick bundt pan will also increase your odds of success. I only use Nordic Ware bundt pans because they're extremely well made and won't break the bank. You can also find them on sale all the time!

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick/cake tester comes out clean. Pans with a darker interior will cook faster, as will a smaller 5 cup bundt pan. Start checking at 35-40 minutes in those cases.

Remove from the oven and let the cake rest for 1-2 minutes. Use a butter knife and gently slide it between the cake and pan around the edges and the center hole. Place a cooling rack on top of the bundt pan and turn over. It should fall right out but if it doesn't let it sit for a couple minutes and then tap the top of the pan to gently coax it out of the pan.

Make the Glaze

Next, melt the butter and mix in the powdered sugar and orange juice. Spoon the glaze over your hot bundt right after you remove it from the pan and let it fully soak in to the cake. Let your cake cool completely before icing it.

The glaze adds more rich buttery flavor to your cake and also helps keep it super moist. This might seem like an unnecessary extra step, but I promise it's worth it.

Blood Orange Icing

The icing is literally just powdered sugar combined with blood orange juice. I find that 1 cup of powdered sugar gives me the perfect pour-able consistency, but it's super easy to adjust it.

Just start out with 1 cup of powdered sugar and add in the orange juice 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir until the powdered sugar is completely melted and keep slowly adding orange juice until your desired consistency is reached!

If you make this recipe, please leave us a star rating at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. Happy baking!

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