BLOOD ORANGE AND PISTACHIO BUNDT CAKE WITH HIBISCUS GLAZE

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I wanted to make something pretty in pink, but not related to raspberries! I have been obsessed with blood oranges and hibiscus forever. The combination just works so beautifully together. Blood oranges are in season right now, and although I do not like eating them as is(I prefer the citrus fruits like navel oranges, cara cara oranges, kumquats, mandarins etc.), I love using blood oranges in desserts.

I love pistachio paste. There is something just so wonderful and unique about it that screams luxurious, earthy, and royal. I bought this wonderful pistachio paste from Amazon, linked here. The pistachio cream is ABSOLUTELY ADDICTIVE! I received the jar and had to try it immediately. I literally had to stop myself from licking my dipped fingers in the jar. 

I can totally see this pistachio paste spread on toast, like Nutella, and it would taste so decadent! I wanted to combine blood oranges with pistachios and hibiscus. So I made this WONDERFUL Blood Orange and Pistachio Bundt Cake with a Hibiscus Glaze.

The Blood Orange Cake is made with simple ingredients like:

• All purpose flour 
• Almond flour : I always use almond flour in cakes, not a whole lot, but a small amount. It truly makes the cake so flavorful with its nuttiness.
• Baking powder 
• Ground Cardamom: Citrus and cardamom are a match made in heaven, and this is true for blood oranges as well!
• Unsalted butter: Always unsalted, and you add salt separately to control the amount of salt that goes into the batter. Salt is simply for balancing out the sweetness.
• Olive oil: I add butter for richness and olive oil to add moistness to the cake
• Blood Orange juice
• Blood Orange Zest – Zest has so much flavor that you have to add it to any citrus cake.
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs : To lighten the cake and always use them at room temperature
• Vanilla extract 
• Whole milk, always use it at room temperature

HOW TO GET A CLEAN BUNDT OUT OF THE PAN:

It is very important that you spray the entire bundt, including the center pole, with a non-stick spray just before putting the batter into the bundt pan. That is because if you do it initially, all the spray liquid falls into the center. It has happened to me, and I wanted my readers to know what they should do! 🙂

HOW TO CREATE THE PISTACHIO BATTER SWIRLS:

I make the blood orange batter first. Then I remove about ¾ cup of the batter, and add the pistachio paste to it, with a little green food gel. Now when you add half of the blood orange batter into the bundt pan, layer it with the pistachio batter. Then add the remaining blood orange batter on top, smoothen it out. Using a bbq stick, swirl all around the pan in a figure 8 manner, to create the signature swirls in the cake. Go around 2 or 3 times, but not more, else the swirls will be lost. 

Now you bake it for around 55 to 60 minutes. Check at the 55 minute mark, to see if the cake is baked by poking the bbq stick into the center of the bundt cake, to see if it comes out clean and baked. If the batter is still wet, keep it in for 5 to 10 minutes longer. Check at every 5 minute mark. 

Make sure that the bundt pan stays out for 20 minutes. Put a wire rack on top of the pan, and then invert it quickly. The bundt will come out seamlessly.

You want to immediately add the blood orange sugar syrup all over the cake to keep it moist. Let it cool completely before adding the glaze.

HIBISCUS GLAZE:

This hibiscus glaze is super addictive. I make it using edible dried hibiscus that I get from Amazon, linked here. The dried hibiscus makes a wonderful tea as well to sip on in these winter cold months. The tea is used to make the glaze with confectioner’s sugar and it get the prettiest pink color. 

I use this glaze on top of the bundt cake. You can make it as thin or thick as you like. I prefer it thicker on the bundt cake so I do not add much tea to my glaze.

I love to decorate it with Candied Blood Orange slices and pistachio pieces. It is such a pretty cake, in flavor, color and texture! I love to have a slice of this cake with hibiscus tea as an afternoon treat, and it is the perfect way to wind down in the evening as well, after dinner.

Share it with your friends and family as they will enjoy this cake as well.

The cake stays well upto 5 days, covered. You do not need to keep it in the fridge. It stays well out in room temperature.

IF you do make this cake, do not forget to tag #thejamlab on this blog post, and/or leave a comment on this blog post.

XO

Amisha

Blood Orange and Pistachio Bundt Cake with Hibiscus Glaze

February 4, 2022

by Amisha

Category Cakes Dessert Tea Cake Winter

Persons

12

Serving Size

12 slices

Ingredients

• Candied Blood Oranges:
• 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (354 grams) water
• 2 blood oranges, thinly sliced (about 1/3 inch thick) and seeds removed
• Blood Orange and Pistachio Bundt Cake:
• 3 ¼ cups (390g) all purpose flour
• ½ cup (62g) almond flour
• 2 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ½ sticks (170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
• 50g olive oil
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 130g blood orange juice (juice of 3 blood oranges)
• Zest of 3 blood oranges
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup (240g) whole milk, at room temperature
• 5 tbsp (87g) pistachio paste
• A drop or two of green food gel
• Hibiscus Glaze:
• 1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tbsp edible dried hibiscus
• ½ cup water
• Decoration:
• Candied Blood Oranges
• Coarsely chopped raw pistachios

Instructions

1. Make Candied Blood Oranges and Blood Orange Simple Syrup:
2. 1. In a large saucepan on medium heat, add the sugar and water. Bring to a boil until sugar dissolves, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the blood orange slices to the pan, separating them. Lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes, gently turning them with tongs, about halfway through.
3. 2. Meanwhile, line a large baking tray with parchment paper, and set a cooling rack on top. Once the blood oranges are done, gently remove them with tongs, allowing any excess syrup to drip off and arrange them in a single layer to dry on the rack. Let them rest for atleast a day until all the slices are dried.
4. 3. Simmer the remaining liquid in the pot, at medium high heat for 5 to 7 more minutes to reduce it a little. Remove from the heat and let cool. Store the syrup in a jar for another use, such as cocktails or mocktails, drizzle over ice cream or desserts etc.
5. 4. After the blood oranges are completely dry, store them in an airtight container.
6. Blood Orange and Pistachio Bundt Cake:
7. 1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
8. 2. In a medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt, ground cardamom, to blend.
9. 3.In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Start whisking at medium speed, increase slowly to high speed. Beat for 2 to 3 minutes. Mixture should be fluffy and pale yellow in color. Add the olive oil, and mix until just combined. Add eggs one at a time. Scrape the sides as you go along with one egg at a time, to get the butter off the bottom of the bowl. Add the blood orange juice and zest and mix again to blend. Add the vanilla extract and mix again. Add the flour mixture and milk, alternating both of them in 3 iterations, ending with the flour. Do not overmix.
10. 4. Pistachio Batter: Remove ¾ cup of the batter. Add the pistachio paste and a drop of green food gel. Using a rubber spatula, mix until it is smooth.
11. 5. Apply cooking spray on a 10 cup bundt cake pan. Spray it in all the nooks and crannies. Add half of the blood orange batter and smoothen it out. Add dollops of the pistachio batter throughout the bundt. Top it off with the remaining cake batter. Smoothen it out. Using a wooden skewer, making swirls with a figure 8 in the batter, going around the entire cake tin thrice to mix the two batters ever so slightly. You do not want a green batter so do NOT overmix it.
12. 6. Place it in the oven for 1 hour. Use a toothpick to ensure that it is baked all the way through. At that point remove the bundt pan gently, not to burn yourself. Rest for about 20 minutes.
13. 7. Gently remove it from the bundt pan, by turning it onto a wire rack on a baking pan. While the cake is hot, once out of the pan, poke holes with a bamboo skewer all around the cake gently. Using a pastry brush, brush the entire cake with the blood orange simple syrup(leftover from the candied blood oranges) so that it seeps into the bundt to make it moist.
14. 8. Once completely cool, gently drizzle the hibiscus icing(recipe below) all around the bundt cake, depending upon the shape of the bundt.
15. 9. Decorate all around with the candied blood oranges and chopped pistachios. The cake is ready to be sliced and eaten with some tea!
16. Hibiscus Glaze:
17. In a small saucepan, add the dried hibiscus and water. On a stove on medium heat, warm the water for about 3-4 minutes. Switch off the stove, and cover the saucepan with a lid. Let the hibiscus tea steep to get maximum flavor. Strain to retrieve the hibiscus tea.
18. In a medium bowl, add the sifted confectioner’s sugar. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of the hibiscus tea. Start with 3 first and check on the consistency. Add a teaspoon at a time afterwards to reach a desired consistency. Whisk until the consistency is smooth. It should not be runny at all, yet a thick pourable consistency. It should be thick enough to form a nice layer on the cake. If it is runny, add more confectioner’s sugar 2 tbsp at a time, until it reaches a desired consistency.
19. Cake can be stored outside, covered with a cake cover for upto a week.

Tags

Blood orange and pistachio bundt cake,

brunch,

citrus,

delicious,

Dessert,

elegant,

hibiscus glaze,

pretty,

tea cakes,

winter

https://thejamlab.co/2022/02/04/blood-orange-and-pistachio-bundt-cake/