Blood Orange Yogurt Bundt Cake

I’m back with another “Sorry I’ve been MIA. Our whole house is sick” message.

Ugh. This time of the year is the absolute WORST.

If you haven’t already closed out of your browser to avoid a complaining post, thank you. This isn’t going to be that, I promise. Our little fam just can’t seem to catch a break lately with colds/pneumonia/stomach bugs.

Dan, as you may know if you’ve been following along, was battling a serious case of pneumonia for most of December. When things weren’t really getting better (aka, he still felt like shit), he went to the doc again and they told him that he STILL had it. So, he’s on another round of antibiotics and steroids, for good measure. In the midst of that, Kieran brought home the stomach flu last week, which resulted in my staying up with him all night, rousing him from sleep just in time to catch his vomit in a trashcan.

Charming, right?

I was convinced I would get it, because that’s just how these things work. A few days went by and I thought I was in the clear. It was a miracle!

Then, in the middle of the night on Saturday, I awoke feeling “off.” I knew I was doomed. I spent the next 30 hours in bed, barely able to move because of incapacitating nausea. I tossed my cookies at least 20 times and became so dehydrated in the process that I started having contractions! Scary stuff.

But now, all is well again. The baby is fine and still in my belly (thank God), and yesterday was the first day where I was able to even think about food in a positive way. Dan is on the mend. And Kieran has been his usual chipper self for days now (he, of course, was the least affected by all of the drama. Oh to be a kid again!).

FINGERS CROSSED this is the last of it! Because I don’t know how much more of it I can take. Especially once the new baby is here. Oy. Let’s hope and pray that we’ve paid our dues for awhile.

Prior to this sob story, I made this fantastic blood orange bundt cake, and it was a light in a time of darkness (dramatic much?). No, but really, there is something so spectacular about the winter citrus this time of year. Eating a clementine or mandarin seriously gives me a boost of energy. It just makes me happy! And the beauty of blood oranges?! No comparison. They’re something beautiful to admire on gloomy January days.

So, naturally, I wanted to bake them into a cake. Duh.

What is it about bundt cakes that feel so fancy? I mean, they’re really just like regular ol’ pound cakes or coffee cakes but in a fun shape, right? The good news is that they impress but are just as easy to throw together as any other cake. And they’re waaaaay easier than layer cakes!

And this one is no different.

This blood orange cake is loaded with fresh citrus flavor. It’s light and rich at the same time, thanks to the brightness of the citrus and the tang of the yogurt. The texture on the inside is fluffy and moist with an addictingly crispy crumb on the outside. It is perfection.

The key to driving home the citrus flavor in the cake is to really work the orange zest into your sugar before creaming the rest of the batter together. It makes a huge difference in flavor! You want the whole kitchen to smell like oranges before you add any other ingredients to the situation.

I like my bundt cakes (all kinds!) to have some sort of glaze or frosting, so I made a simple blood orange glaze to drizzle over top. Look at that color! So gorgeous. And as you may have guessed, it echoes the citrus yumminess of the cake in all the best ways.

It’s making me feel better about my first world problems already.

Cake will do that, though, huh?

Blood Orange Yogurt Bundt Cake

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• Yield: 8-10 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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For the Cake:

• Nonstick spray, for coating the pan
• 2½ cups sugar
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• Zest of 2 blood oranges
• 6 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil (or any other neutral oil)
• Juice of 1 blood orange (roughly ¼ cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I use 2%)

For the Glaze:

• 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons blood orange juice
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Zest of 1 blood orange

Optional Garnishes:

• Blood orange slices
• Additional powdered sugar, for dusting
• Fresh mint sprigs

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Instructions

For the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F and generously coat a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick spray. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of flour and turn the pan to lightly and completely coat in the flour. Discard any excess flour.
2. To the bowl of your stand mixer, add the sugar and blood orange zest. Run the mixer for a few minutes to combine so the orange flavor permeates the sugar (you’ll be able to smell it).
3. Add the butter and beat to combine until the mixture is fluffy and smooth.
4. Add in the eggs, one at a time, until they are just incorporated. Beat in the blood orange juice, oil, and vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
6. Add roughly ⅓ of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined.
7. Add roughly ½ of the yogurt and beat until just combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and yogurt, ending with the last ⅓ of the flour mixture. Mix on low after every addition until everything is just combined.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the outside of the cake is golden brown.
9. Cool the cake in the pan for one hour and then transfer it to a rack set over a baking pan to continue cooling.

For the Glaze:

1. Once the cake is completely cooled, make the glaze by whisking together the yogurt, blood orange juice, and powdered sugar. Start with ¾ cup of the sugar and add more, as needed, to achieve a drizzling consistency for the glaze.
2. Stir in the blood orange zest.
3. Drizzle or pour the glaze over the top of the cake, using as much or as little as you like.
4. If desired, garnish the cake with blood orange slices, a dusting of powdered sugar, and mint sprigs. Slice and serve!

Adapted from here.