Blood orange and cardamom cake

This seasonal recipe boldly combines fragrant cardamon, sweet orange, and punchy fresh extra virgin olive oil for a rich and indulgent dessert.

The oil will give the cake a lovely, moist texture that should keep for days! This recipe is definitely one to make on a weekend to enjoy throughout the week with your morning coffee.

Blood oranges are also at the peak of their deliciousness right now, so get them NOW while they're in season! You can obviously have them on their own or turn them into this beautiful and delicious cake inspired by the plant-based goddess that is Rachel Ama.

Here's the method:

Serves 8-10

• Preheat oven to 180c.
• Line the cake tin with baking paper and grease well with EVOO.
• Mix the juice of two oranges with the sugar. Keep stirring and heat VERY gently until the sugar is dissolved. 
• Pour just enough of this syrup into the base of the baking tray to cover it and let it cool to room temperature. Set the rest of the syrup aside.
• Thinly slice one orange into rounds. Arrange on top of the base of the cake tin in the syrup. Cut the rinds off if you don’t like the slightly bitter taste of orange peel (tastes like marmalade). Don’t worry if the slices overlap in some places, as they need completely cover the base of the tray to keep the syrup separate from the cake mixture.
• Add the olive oil, plant milk and vinegar into the syrup remainder. Mix well with a fork.
• In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and ground cardamom pods. Stir in the syrup mixture with a spoon—don’t beat it!
• Pour the mixture over the orange slices in the cake tin. Be careful not to disturb the slices.
• Place the mixture into the oven for 40 minutes (or until the cake is cooked in the middle).
• Wait for the cake to cool before turning it upside down onto a plate to display the caramelised orange top.

📸 This photo and the tips came from the lovely Ella who is half of the duo running our warehouse!

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