this week i decided that if i could only live with one fruit for the rest of my life, i'm going with blood orange. now, i really hope that doesn't happen since i use a plethora of fruit year round (thank you southern california & globalization). but if it did happen, blood orange would be my best gal. 

unfortunately, they are seasonal and i can only get them for a few months out of the year. but for those few months, i go big on blood orange. and today is no exception. check with your local grocer or produce store and see if you can get your hands on some. they are less tart and less sweet than a regular orange but have amazing orange flavor.  if you can't get your hands on some blood orange (or you don't dream about them at night like me), you could make this light and delicious olive oil cake with regular oranges, grapefruit or any other favorite citrus. OR, you could even skip the citrus if you are looking for a tasty treat thats not too sweet, but still feels very indulgent. 

blood orange olive oil cake + blood orange glaze

serves: 8-10

prep time: 10 minutes

bake time: 30 minutes

cool time :20 minutes

total time: 1 hour

ingredients: 3 blood oranges (or sub 1 grapefruit or pomelo, 2 larger oranges, 3 lemons or 5 limes) zested and juiced. 7 tbs melted butter + 1 tbs soft butter. .75 cup olive oil. 3 tbs milk at room temperature. 4 eggs at room temperature. 1 cup sugar. 1.75 cups all purpose flour, plus 2 tbs extra for dusting the pan.. 1.5 tsp baking powder. .5 tsp kosher salt. 2 cups powdered sugar. 1 bundt or an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan. hand mixer or stand mixer. 

start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees f. combine the 1.75 cups of flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside. then whisk together the olive oil, 7 tbs of melted butter and the milk. set that with the dry ingredients.

then in a bowl of a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer, combine the eggs, zest and 1 cup sugar. start on a medium low speed to combine your ingredients and once combined, turn the mixer up to high and mix until the it turns light yellow in color and is thickened a bit. about 2 to 3 minutes. 

while your beating the sugar and eggs together, butter and flour your baking pan so that the cake will easily slide form the pan after baking. when our batter has thickened, alternate adding your dry and wet ingredients both starting and ending with your dry ingredients.  blend until just combined. 1-2 minutes.

pour your batter into your prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 - 30 minutes depending on the depth of your pan. start checking your cake at about 20 minutes. when a toothpick comes out of the cake clean it is done.

remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool. while the cake is cooling, make your glaze. if you make your glaze in advance, cover it with plastic wrap to prevent a skin on the top from developing. it is just the wet sugar drying when it hits the air, so if a skin does form, just recombine and it should be worked right back into your glaze.

to make your glaze, combine the blood orange juice and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and whisk well till all the lumps are out. about 2 minutes. if your glaze is a bit too dry, you can add in water 1 tsp at a time till you get a nice consistency.

you want your glaze to ribbon back into the bowl when you pull it up with the whisk. if the glaze is too wet and runny, you can add in some powdered sugar 1 tbs at a time till you get the desired consistency.

when the cake has cooled, turn it out onto a wire rack.drizzle the cake with your glaze.

serve or store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

xo, a

blood orange olive oil cake + blood orange glaze

serves: 8-10

prep time: 10 minutes

bake time: 30 minutes

cool time :20 minutes

total time: 1 hour

ingredients: 3 blood oranges (or sub 1 grapefruit or pomelo, 2 larger oranges, 3 lemons or 5 limes) zested and juiced. 7 tbs melted butter + 1 tbs soft butter. .75 cup olive oil. 3 tbs milk at room temperature. 4 eggs at room temperature. 1 cup sugar. 1.75 cups all purpose flour, plus 2 tbs extra for dusting the pan.. 1.5 tsp baking powder. .5 tsp kosher salt. 2 cups powdered sugar. 1 bundt or an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan. hand mixer or stand mixer. 

start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees f. combine the 1.75 cups of flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside. then whisk together the olive oil, 7 tbs of melted butter and the milk. set that with the dry ingredients. then in a bowl of a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer, combine the eggs, zest and 1 cup sugar. start on a medium low speed to combine your ingredients and once combined, turn the mixer up to high and mix until the it turns light yellow in color and is thickened a bit. about 2 to 3 minutes. while your beating the sugar and eggs together, butter and flour your baking pan so that the cake will easily slide form the pan after baking. when our batter has thickened, alternate adding your dry and wet ingredients both starting and ending with your dry ingredients.  blend until just combined. 1-2 minutes. pour your batter into your prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 - 30 minutes depending on the depth of your pan. start checking your cake at about 20 minutes. when a toothpick comes out of the cake clean it is done. remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool. while the cake is cooling, make your glaze. if you make your glaze in advance, cover it with plastic wrap to prevent a skin on the top from developing. it is just the wet sugar drying when it hits the air, so if a skin does form, just recombine and it should be worked right back into your glaze. to make your glaze, combine the blood orange juice and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and whisk well till all the lumps are out. about 2 minutes. if your glaze is a bit too dry, you can add in water 1 tsp at a time till you get a nice consistency. you want your glaze to ribbon back into the bowl when you pull it up with the whisk. if the glaze is too wet and runny, you can add in some powdered sugar 1 tbs at a time till you get the desired consistency. when the cake has cooled, turn it out onto a wire rack. drizzle the cake with your glaze. serve or store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

when i was little, i NEVER had cake for my birthday. no no, i was not a deprived child. i just didn't like cake. i always asked for strawberry pie with whipped cream instead. cake in my mind meant something dry, lacking flavor with some very strange, artificial tasting frosting and usually some really crunchy sugar confetti that looked like it had been sitting on the shelf longer than i had been alive. so it is no wonder at all that i requested pie. 

somewhere along the way, i stored carrot cake into a mental file of things i didn't like. now as a cook, i realize that my list of foods i didn't like was actually a list of foods i had that weren't cooked well. as a kid, i had convinced myself lamb was gross because the only lamb i had ever eaten was cooked till it was fifty shads of grey and served with mint jelly. i won't tell you who ruined it for me (cough. grandma.). anyway, you get the picture. carrot cake had made its way to my naughty list. 

but man oh man, was i a fool. now that my cake business has picked up, i have started receiving heaps of requests for carrot cake. in the beginning, being that i thought i didn't care for carrot cake, i would steer clients in the direction of lemon or classic chocolate. but when a weeding client's favorite was carrot, i knew i had to get over my likes and dislikes and make a damn good carrot cake. so i went to my best baking resource. that same lamb cooking grandmother. all my earliest memories of baking are with her and most of my classic recipes are hers, so i knew she would have a winner. and man was i right!

carrot cake serves: 8-10
prep time: 10 minutes
active time: 5 minutes
baking time: 30-40 minutes
cooling + assembly time: 1 hour
total time: 2 hours
ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour. 2 cups sugar. 1.25 cups vegetable oil. 4 eggs. 2 tsp baking powder. 1 tsp baking soda. 2 tsp cinnamon. 1 tsp allspice. 1 tsp kosher salt. 3 cups grated heirloom carrots (standard orange also work great if that is what you have). stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand blender. baking pans (either 2 8 inch rounds, 3 6 inch rounds or a 9 x 13). parchment for the bottom of your pans. nonstick cooking spray. cream cheese frosting for serving.

start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees f. in the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl, combine the sugar and oil. mix until well combined. about 1-2 minutes. mix together your dry ingredients in a bowl. 

with the mixer on slow add in half of your dry ingredient followed by two of your eggs. 

when well combined, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and the remaining eggs. 

when well combined, start to add in your carrots. 

add in about half until combined and then pour in the rest. 

spray your baking pans and line them with parchment paper. 

pour your batter equally into the pans you are using. 

bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the center of each layer clean. 

remove the baking pans from the oven onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool to room temperature. remove the baking pans from the oven onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool to room temperature. 

use cream cheese frosting to frost your cake and serve or store in a cool place until time to serve. you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. 

xo, a
carrot cake
serves: 8-10
prep time: 10 minutes
active time: 5 minutes
baking time: 30-40 minutes
cooling + assembly time: 1 hour total time: 2 hours
ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour. 2 cups sugar. 1.25 cups vegetable oil. 4 eggs. 2 tsp baking powder. 1 tsp baking soda. 2 tsp cinnamon. 1 tsp allspice. 1 tsp kosher salt. 3 cups grated heirloom carrots (standard orange also work great if that is what you have). stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand blender. baking pans (either 2 8 inch rounds, 3 6 inch rounds or a 9 x 13). parchment for the bottom of your pans. nonstick cooking spray. cream cheese frosting for serving.  2 tsp cinnamon. 1 tsp allspice. 1 tsp kosher salt. 3 cups grated heirloom carrots (standard orange also work great if that is what you have). stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand blender. baking pans (either 2 8 inch rounds, 3 6 inch rounds or a 9 x 13). parchment for the bottom of your pans. nonstick cooking spray. cream cheese frosting for serving.
start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees f. in the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl, combine the sugar and oil. mix until well combined. about 1-2 minutes.mix together your dry ingredients in a bowl. with the mixer on slow add in half of your dry ingredient followed by two of your eggs. when well combined, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and the remaining eggs. when well combined, start to add in your carrots. add in about half until combined and then pour in the rest. spray your baking pans and line them with parchment paper. pour your batter equally into the pans you are using. bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the center of each layer clean. remove the baking pans from the oven onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool to room temperature. use cream cheese frosting to frost your cake and serve or store in a cool place until time to serve. you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.