Blood orange season is a beautiful yet fleeting one, boldly emerging with the spring blossoms. As the most vibrant member of the citrus family, the rosy blood orange is a welcome change to the fading grey of winter. Blood oranges are paired with earl grey in this simple yet elegant bundt cake; a showstopper infused with heady bergamot undertones, then soaked in earl grey syrup to intensify the tea flavour and aroma. A gorgeous candy-coloured blood orange glaze perfectly complements the citrus notes, while lemon glaze stripes add a playful tangy twist.

Baking Notes

I would recommend using high-quality earl grey tea with a strong bergamot aroma and flavour for best results. Loose leaf tea is preferable to tea bags, as it typically of superior quality and flavour, although a small muslin bag will be required for infusing the tea in melted butter. Tea bags can be substituted for loose leaf tea, although the quality and quantity varies greatly between brands, with one gram of loose leaf roughly equivalent to one tea bag. Additionally, if using tea bags for the syrup, they may absorb too much of the syrup themselves given the small quantity, so I would recommend doubling the sugar and water quantities to ensure ample syrup to soak the cake.

Blood Orange + Earl Grey Bundt Cake

Makes a 20cm (5 cup capacity) bundt cake
Serves 8-10 people

Ingredients

Blood Orange + Earl Grey Bundt Cake

200g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
125ml whole milk
10g earl grey tea (or 10 tea bags)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
200g caster sugar
50g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
240g plain flour, sifted
50g fine semolina
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Zest of 2 medium blood oranges
Juice of 1 medium blood orange (approximately 60ml)

Earl Grey Syrup

60ml (1/4 cup) water
55g caster sugar
2g earl grey tea (or 2 tea bags)
½ tsp vanilla paste

Citrus Striped Icing

280g icing sugar
Juice of ½ medium blood orange (approximately 30ml), strained
1-2 tbsp lemon juice, strained

Method

Blood Orange + Earl Grey Bundt Cake

1. Melt butter and milk in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring gently until hot and steamy. Remove from heat. Place tea leaves in a muslin bag, then place the bag in the saucepan ensuring it is fully submerged (if using tea bags, simply place them straight in the melted butter mixture). Stir and allow to steep for 60 minutes. When ready to use, remove muslin bag, squeezing to extract maximum flavour.
2. Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced), set oven rack in lower third of the oven and heavily grease a 20cm 5 cup capacity bundt pan.
3. Beat together eggs and sugars until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes, then add the tea mixture and beat on low speed until combined, followed by vanilla and blood orange zest.
4. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt, then mix together with semolina.
5. Add one third of the sifted dry ingredients while beating on low speed, then one third of the blood orange juice. Continue alternating batches of dry ingredients and juice until batter is smooth, taking care not to overmix.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until lightly golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cover cake for the last 5-10 minutes of baking time if starting to brown significantly.
7. Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a plate with a lip and drizzle with warm earl grey syrup. Allow to cool completely.
8. If the cake sticks to the pan, placing the pan cake-side-up in a tray filled with 3-4cm of boiling water for 2-3 minutes expands the cake pan and allows easier release. Take great care not to burn yourself and do not allow the water to come into direct contact with the cake.

Earl Grey Syrup

1. Read baking notes carefully regarding ingredient quantities, as these differ slightly if using teabags. If using teabags, double the quantities of sugar and water.
2. Simmer water, sugar and tea leaves (or tea bags) in a medium saucepan until the ingredients thicken into a syrup, then add vanilla. Allow to steep for 5-10 minutes.
3. Strain syrup (or remove tea bags if using), squeezing to extract maximum flavour.
4. Pour the warm syrup over the warm cake, allowing the syrup to soak in as the cake cools.

Citrus Striped Icing

1. Mix 200g of icing sugar together with blood orange juice. If icing is too thick, add a little more juice, and if it is too thin, add a little more sugar.
2. Mix the remaining 80g of icing sugar together with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. If icing is too thick, add a little more juice, and if it is too thin, add a little more sugar.

To Serve

1. Place bundt cake on serving plate and drizzle blood orange icing over cake, allowing a little bit to drip over the sides. Drizzle the lemon icing on top in a striped pattern, either using a spoon or a piping bag fitted with a narrow round nozzle for greater control.

Enjoy!

Salma Sabdia is the creative powerhouse behind fabulous baking blog, The Polka Dotter. Click here to check out her blog, here to follow her on Instagram and here on Facebook.