Recipe: Blood Orange, Chocolate and Cardamom Cake

This week in my newsletter I shared a round up of favourite blood orange recipes and a little more about the fruit itself and what you can make with it. It must have inspired me because I found myself craving their bright sharp flavour and headed to the kitchen to experiment. This blood orange chocolate and cardamom cake brings together warming spice zesty seasonal fruit and a generous scattering of dark chocolate. It is simple to make rich in flavour and perfect for this time of year.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 2 tsp cardamom

• 120g caster sugar

• 120g butter

• 120g self raising flour

• 2 eggs

• Zest of one small blood orange

• 60g blood orange flesh

• One small blood orange chopped into rounds with pith and skin removed for the top

• 45g dark chocolate chopped

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160°C. Cream the butter cardamom and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time with a little flour then fold in the remaining flour. Stir in the chocolate the orange zest and the 60g of orange flesh. Pour the batter into a greased and lined baking tin.

• Arrange the blood orange rounds on top and bake for about 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool before slicing.

A Seasonal Note

This cake belongs to Imbolc the Celtic season of gentle warmth returning when citrus feels especially welcome in the kitchen. Blood orange brings brightness and colour while cardamom and chocolate add the steadying comfort needed in the last stretch of Winter. It is a cake that feels both uplifting and grounding a lovely reflection of Imbolc’s quiet early promise.