HI fair warning: this post is one of those posts with a BAJILLION pictures because I made a blood orange rose cake with candied oranges and I'm ridiculously excited about it. Feel free to skip ahead to the recipe ("jump to recipe" button above) because I'm definitely sharing all the photos ๐.
Basically I was trying to come up with something for Valentine's Day dessert this year and BAM! Strolled by a massive heap of blood oranges at Central Market.
It was meant to be.
But how to give it a smidge of a romantic, date night feel? Another BAM! The blood oranges were right by the florist section.
Roses ๐๐ป .
Done. Omg. So excited you don't even know.
I decided right then and there I would order some culinary dried rosebuds (basically that kind you steep in tea), infuse a little rose water into the cake layers, buttercream frosting, and top it off with a blood orange glaze.
Wait, did I say top it off with a blood orange glaze? I meant top it off with candied blood orange slices.
๐.
Remember my lemon blueberry lavender cake? I basically reworked the recipe sans blueberries to incorporate blood oranges instead of lemons, rose water instead of lavender extract, and top it off with a festive, pink glaze.
I do love a good recipe recycle ๐.
Scroll down for the entire blood orange rose cake with candied oranges recipe below!
PS. Those candied blood oranges? I included the ingredients and directions for those in the recipe notes section as they're totally optional but SO pretty and fun ๐๐ป.
Blood Orange Rose Cake with Candied Oranges
- Total Time: 55 minutes
Description
A three layer citrus and rose flavored cake with buttercream frosting and a blood orange glaze. A little piece of springtime in a slice!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 ยพ cups all purpose, unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon blood orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract (optional - can substitute with another teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 1 teaspoon rose water (optional - can substitute with another teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 1 ยฝ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ยฝ cups buttermilk
- โ cup blood orange juice
- Flowers, candied blood orange slices, dried culinary rose buds, light pink and white sanding sugar for garnish
For the Frosting
- 1 ยฝ cups unsalted butter
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon blood orange zest
- 1 teaspoon rose water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (if unavailable, you can substitute vanilla extract)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
For the Blood Orange Glaze
- ยผ teaspoon blood orange zest
- 3 tablespoons blood orange juice
- 1 ยพ cups powdered sugar, sifted
See Notes for Optional Candied Blood Orange Slices Garnish Recipe
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
Make the Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350หF. Grease 3 8โณ straight edge cake pans. Line with parchment paper and grease.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Whisk until completely mixed.
- In a standing mixer or with a hand held mixer and a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and blood orange zest until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk in eggs, egg whites, vanilla extract, orange extract and rose water on a high speed until combined, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides as needed.
- On a low speed, whisk the flour mixture to the egg mixture until just combined.
- Still on a low speed, pour in the buttermilk and blood orange juice, mixing until just combined.
- Pour batter evenly into greased layer pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of each cake. Set on a wire rack to cool, at least one hour, or frosting will melt.*
Make the Frosting
- In a standing mixer or with a handheld mixer, whisk butter and cream cheese until light and creamy. Sift in 3 cups of powdered sugar. Add blood orange zest, rose water, vanilla paste, and heavy cream. Whisk until completely smooth and fluffy. If too thin, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add more heavy cream.
Make the Glaze
- In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the glaze until completely smooth.
Assemble the Cake
- When the cake layers are cooled, place one of the cake layers with the flat side down on a plate or cake stand. With an offset spatula, spread the top with about 1 cup of frosting.
- Place the second layer on top of this frosted layer and spread another 1 cup of frosting.
- Add on the final layer, flat side up to make the cake even. Lightly frost the rest of the cake with the remaining frosting. Place cake in fridge and chill for 10 minutes.
- Remove cake from the fridge and drizzle with glaze as desired. Garnish with flowers, candied blood orange slices, dried culinary rose buds, light pink and white sanding sugar.
- Place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes to an hour, until frosting is set.
- Cover cake tightly and store in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Notes
You can make the cake layers the night before! Let them cool on a wire rack, cover with some plastic wrap (still in the cake pans), and place in the fridge to chill until your ready to assemble the cake the next day.
For the Candied Blood Oranges
- Slice a medium blood orange into โ to ยผ inch rounds, discarding the very top and bottom slices.
- In a large skillet, bring 1 ยฝ cups sugar, 1 ยฝ cups cup water and 2-3 tablespoons blood orange juice to a simmer. Add blood orange slices and cook 1 hour, flipping over every 15 minutes.
- Place slices onto a piece of parchment paper or silpat to cool completely. Let rest for at least 1 hour, preferably 24 hours until completely dry and no longer tacky.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
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