Published by Crumbs Magazine, to view published version, click here.
‘Drizzle’ is a word not commonly associated with joy; reminiscent of grey, damp and generally miserable days. However, when immediately followed with the holy grail of words – cake – we then find ourselves faced with one very benevolent exception: A bright, syrupy and sticky citrous loaf – a very honorable exception indeed!
So, in what follows is my own take on the delightful teatime treat, the humble drizzle cake. This recipe also serves as a fine celebration of the blood orange, which, every January, seems to burst onto our shelves just in the nick of time. Restoring some promise of sunshine into our lives. Combine this with cardamom and pomegranate and your onto a winner. A perfect ode to the much loved and sorely missed (come late April) Blood Orange which is now sadly entering into the dusk of its seasonality.
Blood Orange and Cardamom Drizzle Cake with a Pomegranate Glaze
INGREDIENTS
For the cake
200g of Butter – softened
200g of Self-Raising Flour
200g of Light Brown Muscovado Sugar
Zest and Juice of 1 Blood Orange
3 Eggs
6 Cardamom Pods – deseeded
2tbsp of Natural Yogurt
A Pinch of Salt
For the syrup
50g of Caster Sugar
Zest and Juice of 1 Blood Orange
3 Cardamom Pods – crushed
For the glaze
Juice of half and Pomegranate
250g Icing Sugar
METHOD
Begin by preheating your oven to 180°C and lining a loaf tin with baking paper or a liner.
Using an electric whisk, or a manual one, cream together the butter and sugar. For this recipe I like to use light brown Muscovado sugar as I think it works well with the blood orange and give a caramel twist to the cake. Caster sugar will also work though! Once creamed, add the eggs one by one whisking well after each addition.
After the eggs have been combines, sieve in the flour and salt and mix well. Following, grate in the zest and add the juice of the blood orange, add the seeds from the cardamom, the yogurt and whisk together.
Pour the mixture and place in the oven for around 45 minutes to bake, or until a skewer or knife comes out clean.
Whilst your loaf is baking, make the syrup. Simply, combine all the syrup ingredients in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. The sugar will melt and the juice will begin to bubble. Allow to simmer for around five minutes on a medium heat until the mixture has thickened and reduced by half. Set aside.
When your cake is ready, carefully remove from the tin once letting it sit for 5 minutes. You don’t want to let it cool fully as if it is allowed to do so the syrup will not seep right through. Once it is out of its tin, taking a skewer (or a chopstick, or knife) poke the cake all over – in rows of around 5 insertions. This is key as it will ensure the syrup goes right through the cake to leave you with the wet, sticky sponge you’re after!
Next, place the cake onto a chopping board or plate and pour the syrup over the top. Be very careful as your syrup will be hot! Now leave to cool.
To make the glaze, juice half a pomegranate and gradually add the icing sugar. It is important to slowly add the sugar to ensure your glaze is smooth.
Once your cake is cool, drizzle this mixture over the top allowing it to drip down the sides. Once the glaze has set slightly, very carefully transfer your drizzle cake to a preferred serving dish, or leave where it is and enjoy the run offs!
And voila! One sticky, gooey loaf of pure blood orange drizzle joy!
A little Tasty 