Monday, January 23, 2012

Blood Orange Cornmeal Bundt Cakes




I made these little cakes for brunch over the weekend, and I definitely see more of them in my future. They were the perfect little cakes for the occasion, light, refreshing, and satisfying.  I started out making my cornmeal cake which has always been one of my go to recipes for brunch due to the fact that it's easy to put together and not overly sweet.  I wanted to make a blood orange version of the original cake, and once I started baking, it all just came together beautifully.
The first thing I did was add the zest of a few blood oranges to the cake to give it a burst of flavor.  That in itself was really good and I could have left it at that, but I wanted more.  Next I made a blood orange tequila glaze to coat the cakes.  This was definitely fueled by the blood orange margarita I had earlier in the week ;) The glaze was seriously good, and look at that color! It was sweet and syrupy, and the tequila gave it that little bite it needed to balance it out.  Plus the cakes weren't too sweet, so the glaze was just the right accessory.

Blood orange tequila glaze











While the cakes were still warm, I used a toothpick to poke holes in the tops of them.  Then I generously brushed/spooned the glaze over them.  I was very happy with the direction this was going, and even happier that the cakes took on a slight pink tint from the glaze!  Once they were all coated, I set them aside so all the flavors could mingle.


The last thing I did was make a fruit compote with blood oranges, a cara cara orange, and some strawberries.  Blood oranges are my favorite due to their bright flavor, and their vibrant fuschia color doesn't hurt either!  I also really like cara cara oranges.  They are sweeter than regular oranges and there's a little tang to them.  I tossed all the fruit together with some triple sec and more tequila.  I figured I might as well finish what I started with the glaze.  The compote finished off the dessert wonderfully, and the cake was just bursting with blood orange flavor.  The cakes were a hit, and so were the batch of blood orange margaritas I whipped up! Enjoy!



Blood Orange Cornmeal Bundt Cake

  • 6oz. butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • zest of 5 blood oranges
  • 3 eggs
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/2t. vanilla extract
  • 1T. tequila
  • 3/4 cup + 1T. AP flour
  • 1/2 cup + 2T. cornmeal
  • 3/4t. baking powder
  • 1/2t. salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease small bundt cake pan.
  2. Cream butter, sugar, and zest.
  3. Add eggs & egg yolk, few at a time till all combined.
  4. Add extract and tequila.
  5. Mix in flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt till combined.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes till golden, rotating once halfway through.  Recipe yields 8 small cakes.
Blood Orange Tequila Glaze

  • 1/3 cup blood orange juice
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 oz. butter
  • 1T. + 1t. tequila
  1. Bring juice, sugar, and butter to a boil.  Let mixture boil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes till mixture gets thick and syrupy.
  2. Remove from heat and whisk in tequila.  You can also replace the tequila with Grand Marnier. 
  3. While the cakes are still warm, poke holes in the tops using a toothpick.  Next brush or spoon the glaze over them.  If glaze gets too thick, just heat it up on the stove, or pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds to loosen it up.
Blood Orange & Strawberry Compote

  • 3 blood oranges
  • 1 cara cara orange
  • 16 oz. container of strawberries
  • 3-4T. sugar - depends on sweetness of the fruit
  • 2T. tequila
  • 1T. triple sec
  1. Place segmented oranges & quartered strawberries in a medium size bowl.  Toss with sugar.
  2. Add tequila & triple sec to mixture.  Allow to sit for 20 minutes for the flavors to get to know each other. 
  3. Taste it to see if you need more sugar or alcohol.
  4. Spoon fruit on top of the cakes when ready to serve.


31 comments:

  1. These are so cute! I love blood oranges and will definitely make this soon.

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  2. Ooh! I love mini bundts. These look divine. :)

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  3. great combo of flavors..looks gorgeous..:)
    Tasty Appetite

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  4. The contrasting textures between the cake and the compote really does make me want to try these. Both components look good enough to enjoy by themselves too. Individual cakes are so much better presentation wise than big ones. Creative and delicious post!

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  5. Oh these colors! Gorgeous!

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  6. Anonymous1/23/2012

    I LOVE the topping on these, what an amazing presentation.

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  7. These look soo good and the glaze just makes it even better!Amazing!!

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  8. Anonymous1/23/2012

    I love blood orange and the use of cornmeal looks makes these minis so unique - a delicious recipe :D

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  9. These are gorgeous and sound like they are packed with lots of blood orange juice!

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  10. oooh I love this! What great flavor combinations!

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  11. What adorable little cakes :) Very cute, and I love all the fruit heaped on top :) Great color.

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  12. What gorgeous cakes!!Love the deep orange and baking them in the Bundt-pans has given them a cute shape:)Beautiful idea!

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  13. What cute little cakes! Blood orange is so fun to use beyond tasting great and I love the "kick" you put into all the different components of this. Buzzed! Now excuse me while I go drool.

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  14. Gorgeous photos!!! I know these must be absolutely delish...and I love your mini Bundts, too :)

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  15. These bundt cakes look amazing!! I love the tequila glaze and the beautiful compote on top!

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  16. OMG I love these. These are absolutely stunning. SO pretty!

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  17. The cakes are so fancy and pretty! But the tequila glaze - that totally blows my mind! Brilliant :)

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  18. Anonymous1/23/2012

    These are stunning! I love the idea of corn meal in them! Stunning...and buzzed!

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  19. I am thrilled to pieces that you didn't hold back on the booze. You hit this one over the fence and out of the park!

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  20. Genius! That glaze is amazing! I fully support the boozy mash up

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  21. That glaze sounds yummy!! I like your presentation very much!

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  22. How delicious! I love the cornmeal too. Yum!

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  23. Anonymous1/25/2012

    These look not only beautiful but unbelievably delicious too! I saw a bag of blood oranges at the store the other day and made a mental note to keep my eye out for some recipes that included it. I will be adding this one to that list!

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  24. Oh YUM! This sounds amazing!! The blood orange tequila glaze...heaven. And they're adorable. This sounds like a perfect treat for the warm weather. Can't wait to try it out!

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  25. They sound delicious, and I totally LOVE the new digs!!

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  26. The blood oranges are finally hitting the market here, I just made one recipe with them, but I'm going to get more. Love the sound of the tequila glaze. I don't like winter, but I do love the citrus winter give us. Hope you are having a lovely week.
    -Gina-

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  27. Oh my goodness! These look and sound amazing! I have not seen blood oranges around here. It is driving me crazy because I see all these amazing recipes using them!

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  28. The texture must be lovely and what a beautiful flavor...adore blood oranges!

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  29. These are so cute! I love a mini bundt. :) We just launched the all new seasonalpotluck.com and February is oranges month! If you'd like to link up, we'd love to have you! http://bit.ly/zDoNfx

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  30. wow the color is really just so outstanding, the sound of a blood orange flavor cake it making my mouth water!! gorgeous pictures

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