Blood orange pound cake

A blood orange pound cake is great little treat for the weekend that is quick and easy to whip up. The cream cheese butter frosting adds a rich and tangy contrast, while the sprinkle of pistachios provides a lovely crunch and nutty flavour.

January has felt like a long month, we have had beautiful winter days and other days with full rain, where the snow has now fully melted away. It almost feels like a stepping stone to spring, as typically January is very cold and snowy but now it is warmer and no sight of snow for the future. I have found inspiration from fresh bouquets of flowers and cooking new recipes. This month I learned to cook beef bone broth and now I am learning how to bake easy breads with the hope of one day perfecting a sour dough recipe. However, it is blood orange season so I wanted to share this simple pound cake recipe with you all, to cheer up a January weekend. When I made this cake, I actually winged it and didn’t properly measure anything which means you don’t need to be too precise on the measurements. I left the batter fairly running as I wanted a moist cake and feel free to add seasonal spices like cinnamon on or cardamom if you wish to alter the flavour.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons blood orange juice (can also add some zest if you please)

• about 50g melted butter

• about 1/2- 1dl sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

• pinch of salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 2 eggs

• 2dl (or slightly under) plain flower

With an electric whisk, mix together the 2 eggs and sugar in a bowl until it becomes light and frothy. Once ready, mix in the blood orange juice and melted butter. With a spoon fold in the flour, baking soda and powder and a pinch of salt.

Take your cake tin (I used a fairly small cake tin) 23cm x 12cm and line it with butter and flour as this helps to prevent the cake from sticking to the sides. Pour in the cake mixture and place it in a pre heated oven of 175C for roughly 40 minutes. it does not matter if the cake mixture comes out soft as this ensures it is moist. Let the cake cool in the tin before taking it out.

Cream cheese butter frosting

• 1 dl cream cheese

• about 40g room temperature butter in small cubes

• 2 tablespoons icing sugar

• tablespoon of blood orange juice

Cake garnish: 2 slices of blood orange, a bit of blood orange juice and crushed pistachio nuts

Then make the butter frosting: In a bowl add your cream cheese, softened butter and icing sugar. Whisk until combined. It helps to whisk everything when all the ingredients have been sitting in room temperature for a while. Mix in the blood orange juice.

Once the cake is cooled, place it on a plate. Add the butter frosting on top of the cake. Place a few slices of blood orange on top. Sprinkle crushed pistachios on top and drizzle some blood orange juice on top.