Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

Photo by Andrew Scrivani for the New York Times

adapted from The New York Times, March 18, 2009
by Katherine KoelschKriken

serves 12

3 blood oranges
1 cup sugar
about 1/3 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups semolina flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
crème fraîche or whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8 inch diameter cake pan with parchment paper. Grate zest from blood oranges and place in bowl with sugar. Mix until orange zest is evenly distributed in sugar.

Supreme two of the oranges: Cut off the bottom and top of each so fruit is exposed and orange can stand upright on a cutting board. Cut away pith, following curve of fruit with your knife. Cut orange segments out of their connective membranes. Break up segments into 1/4-inch pieces.

Halve remaining orange and squeeze juice into glass measuring pitcher. You will have about 1/3 cup. Add buttermilk or yogurt to juice until you have 2/3 cup of liquid together. Pour mixture into bowl with sugar and whisk well. Whisk in eggs.

In another bowl, whisk together semolina, baking powder, baking sodaand salt. Gently whisk dry ingredients into wet ones. Switch to a spatula andfold in oil a little at a time. Fold in orange pieces. Scrape batter into cake pan and smooth top. Bake cake for about 55 minutes or until it is golden and a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes then unmold and coolto room temperature right side up. Serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream.

The recipe works perfectly with regular oranges (we used blood orange juice though), but the cut cake, dappled with ruby dots of blood orange, is much prettier.