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Last Updated on February 10, 2025 by Megan Jones
Easy Vegan Blood Orange olive oil cake using only 6 main ingredients and 1 bowl. This cake is fluffy and light and perfect for using up all those blood oranges as soon as they come into season, adding a seasonal twist to this loaf cake.
Ingredients you will need:
This Blood orange olive oil loaf cake is made with pantry staple ingredients which include the following:
Ingredient notes
Olive Oil keeps the cake moist and adds another layer of flavour. Olive oils vary vastly in flavour, some are more peppery and acidic, others a lighter and milder tasting, your cake will adopt the flavour of the oil slightly, a good rule of thumb is use one that you usually use in salads with a milder flavour.
Blood orange juice and zest and lots of it for extra zing! The blood orange juice is fairly acidic so reacts with dairy-free milk to almost make buttermilk which gives a cake a tender crumb.
Caster sugar for a light fluffy vegan olive oil cake! Pro tip: rub the citrus zest into the sugar with your fingers, this ensures more of the essential oils are released, making for a zestier and more fragrant cake!
You will not need any vegan egg replacements as the cake stays moist and fluffy from the olive oil, sugar and baking powder.
A complete list of ingredients, quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Creating the zesty sugar, step by step:
How to prepare the cake batter, step by step:
You'll only need one bowl to prepare this vegan blood orange olive oil cake!
In a large mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, then add all the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
The final batter should be a little runny without lumps of dry flour or streaks of wet ingredients. You can use a stand mixer or hand mixer but be careful to not over-mix the batter.
Pour the cake batter into an 8-inch (20 cm) greased or lined loaf pan and bake it in your preheated oven.
You are aiming for a smooth batter like the below image:
Decoration suggestions
This vegan blood orange loaf is delicious with a simple 2-ingredient icing that sets at room temperature and has a beautiful pastel pink colour!
For a more decadent cake, you can top it with vegan citrus buttercream frosting or vegan cream cheese frosting.
Alternatively, if you prefer cakes on the less sweet side... you can opt to top the unbaked cake before if goes into the oven with sliced almonds or crushed pistachios (just keep an eye on them so they don't burn). After baking, dust the top with powdered sugar or serve with dairy free yogurt or creme fraiche and berries.
Can I bake this cake in a different pan?
This vegan olive oil cake will bake well in any loaf pan that's 8-inches or longer. If you're using a longer one, your cake will just be shorter.
Alternatively, you can use an 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pan. For much easier removal, use a springform pan.
Other Cake recipes to try:
Blueberry and banana breakfast loaf
Vegan Blood Orange Olive Oil Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 315 g All purpose plain flour - sifted to ensure less lumps in batter.
- 250 g Caster sugar
- 3 teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 250 g dairy free milk
- 125 g Olive oil
- 80 g blood orange juice see note 1
- 3 tablespoon blood orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing:
- 150 g icing / powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon blood orange juice
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (355°F). Line an 8 inch (20 cm) loaf tin with parchment paper.
- Add all the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) to a large bowl. Mix until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients (milk, oil, juice, zest and vanilla) and mix until smooth.
- Pour the cake batter into your prepared pan. Smooth the surface if necessary.
- Bake the cake for 45-50 mins or until you can insert a toothpick in the centre of the cake and there's no wet batter on it. As this is a moist cake, some crumbs on your toothpick are fine. If the top of the cake is browning too quickly on top, carefully tent the pan with aluminum/ tin foil.
- Allow the cake to cool in the loaf tin for 10 minutes then let the cake cool on a cooling rack.
To make the icing:
- Add the blood orange juice and sugar to a medium bowl and mix until smooth. Add more orange juice or non-dairy milk for a thinner icing (like a glaze) or more powdered sugar for a thicker icing.
- Drizzle the icing over your cooled cake. If desired, top the cake with berries just before serving.
- Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or in the fridge for up to 3 days. The cake can be stored without the icing in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Jo says
Wow - easy to follow instructions and make. The icing was not overly sweet which was lovely