Make the most of citrus season with this stunning vegan blood orange olive oil bundt cake! A moist, zesty cake infused with fresh blood orange juice and extra virgin olive oil for a soft, tender crumb. It is easy to make with basic ingredients and is very moreish, making it the perfect centerpiece for a winter brunch.
This easy vegan bundt cake is perfect for Easter, Valentine's day or Mother's Day. It is soft, fluffy, moist and full of fresh orange flavour with a pretty pink white chocolate blood orange glaze inspired by this recipe by Edd Kimber.
While it is a great recipe to bake during blood orange season (generally December through to March/April), it can also be made with regular oranges so can be made year round.
Ingredient Details:
Blood oranges: You will need both the zest and juice so buy organic ones if possible, if not make sure to wash them really well before zesting. You can also use regular oranges instead of blood oranges.
Olive oil: I use extra virgin olive oil, I don't find that the flavour comes through strongly. Feel free to use regular olive oil or another neutral flavoured oil.
Yogurt: I use Greek style soya yogurt, though a regular plain vegan yogurt is also fine.
Milk: Any variety of unsweetened non-dairy milk will work (except tinned coconut milk) but I like soy milk the best for baking as it has the highest protein content so most closely resembles dairy milk.
Plain flour + cornflour: Regular plain (all-purpose) flour with a bit of cornflour (cornstarch) added gives the crumb a nice texture. You can swap the cornflour for an equal weight of plain flour if you don't have any, but I do recommend using it if you can.
Baking powder + soda: You need to use both, they are not interchangeable.
Sugar: Either caster or granulated for the cake is fine, I do not recommend swapping this for any other kind of sugar or sweetener.
White chocolate: This is just for the ganache glaze, I use this one which is perfect for melting and baking with.
How To Make Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
- Step 1: Whisk together the sugar, olive oil, yogurt, milk, blood orange zest and juice and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
- Step 2: Whisk in the cornflour, baking powder and soda and salt, followed by the plain flour.
- Step 3: Pour the batter into a well greased bundt tin.
- Step 4: Bake for 40-45 minutes.
Top Tips:
USE SCALES. As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scales rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
For the teaspoon and Tablespoon measurements, please use proper measuring spoons, not just regular spoons. A teaspoon is 5ml and a Tablespoon is 15ml.
Make sure that you don't over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough. Just mix it until no dry lumps remain. I recommend stirring it by hand with a balloon whisk.
The cake is ready when it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
Make sure that you use a good quality bundt tin, such as Nordic Ware, as that will reduce the risk of the cake sticking to the tin.
Take your time greasing the tin, making sure that you get into every nook and cranny. It helps to put the tin in the fridge for 15 minutes before you brush it with butter as the butter will solidify and stick when you brush it on, rather than just running off.
To achieve a vibrant colour in the glaze, you may need to add a drop of pink or red food colouring.
FAQ's:
Yes absolutely, the cake will work just as well with regular oranges.
Yes, any kind of neutral flavoured oil that is liquid at room temperature will work, such as vegetable, sunflower, canola or avocado. I do not recommend using coconut oil as that may make the cake too dense.
You can use a 23 x 33 cm / 9 x 13 inch rectangular cake tin OR two 20 cm/8 in round cake tins. The cake will take around 25-30 minutes to bake.
Yes, if you don't have or don't want to use vegan white chocolate then you can make a simple icing sugar glaze instead - sift 125g of icing (powdered) sugar into a bowl and gradually stir in enough strained blood orange juice to make a thick but spoonable consistency, about 2-3 Tablespoons.
The cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, or in the fridge for 5.
Yes though if you are freezing it in advance of serving then I recommend not adding the glaze until the cake has defrosted as freezing may change the texture.
If you love this recipe, please leave a 5-star ★★★★★ rating at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers.
Also be sure to add us as a trusted site on Google so that our recipes show up more in your searches!
To keep up to date with all my latest recipes you can subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on social media!
All images and content on Domestic Gothess are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe then please do so by using the share buttons provided. Do not screenshot or post the recipe or content in full, instead include a link to this post for the recipe.
Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
Equipment
- 10-12 cup bundt tin
Ingredients
Cake:
- 250 g (1 ¼ cups) caster or granulated sugar
- 165 g (¾ cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 160 g (⅔ cup) plain vegan yogurt (I use Greek style soya)
- 120 g (½ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- finely grated zest of 3 blood oranges
- 160 g (⅔ cup) blood orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 40 g (⅓ cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 360 g (3 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
White chocolate glaze:
- 150 g (5 oz) vegan white chocolate finely chopped
- 80 g (⅓ cup) strained blood orange juice
- drop of pink or red food colouring if needed
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180°C/160℃ fan/350°F/gas mark 4.
- Place a 10-12 cup bundt tin in the fridge for 15 minutes then thoroughly brush it with melted vegan butter making sure that you get right into all of the nooks and crannies.
- Use a balloon whisk to whisk together the sugar, olive oil and yogurt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in the milk, blood orange zest and juice and vanilla extract250 g (1 ¼ cups) caster or granulated sugar, 165 g (¾ cup) extra virgin olive oil, 160 g (⅔ cup) plain vegan yogurt (I use Greek style soya), 120 g (½ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy), finely grated zest of 3 blood oranges, 160 g (⅔ cup) blood orange juice, 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- Whisk in the cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt until fully combined.40 g (⅓ cup) cornflour (cornstarch), 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the plain flour and stir until no dry lumps remain.360 g (3 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Tap the tin on the worktop a couple of times to get rid of any air bubbles then bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool in it's tin on a wire rack for 20 minutes before carefully flipping it out of the tin onto a wire rack and leaving it to cool completely.
- Once the cake has cooled make the glaze. Melt the white chocolate, either in short bursts in the microwave or over a bain marie. Once it is melted, whisk in the blood orange juice until smooth. If needed, add a drop of food colouring to give it a more vibrant colour.150 g (5 oz) vegan white chocolate, 80 g (⅓ cup) strained blood orange juice, drop of pink or red food colouring if needed
- Set aside to cool until it has thickened slightly but is still pourable then pour it over the top of the cake. If you find that the glaze sets too firm before you are able to use it, simply re-warm it briefly and it will become runny again.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- USE SCALES. As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scales rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
KALYANI
Gorgeous, as always with recipes on this site. Thanks Hannah.
Signy
Delicious! I didn't have white chocolate on hand so I made a simple icing glaze (and I also put a little bit less sugar!) but this cake is definitely going into my recipe book. Looks and tastes incredible good!
Atiya Davids
I love this unique cake. Rich and complex flavour. Perfect texture. My work colleagues loved it.