Mother nature gave us the big thaw last week. This annual thaw gets me every year. Come the end of February or early March we always have a “heatwave” (Ie: any temperature above 0 Celsius!) that sends us all in a spiral of spring thoughts, but before we know it, we are hunkering down for our second winter that undoubtedly will last until April. I don’t know why I let myself get caught up in all the spring feelings, but when you can go outside with your mud boots and warm sweater, it is so hard not to! I’m literally waiting on pins and needlers for the inevitable deep freeze.
For now, I’m soaking up the above zero temperatures like I’m sitting on a beach in Florida eating oranges and sipping pina coladas, although, admittedly I am not a huge citrus lover. I know, weird, right? Oranges I can manage in moderation, however grapefruit is an absolute no-no (unless it is baked in a pie, then it is a yes-yes)! Does anyone else feel this way, or am I just an oddball? Putting my love-hate relationship aside, I wanted to put a spin on the traditional poppy seed loaf so I snatched up some blood oranges from our little country grocery store as soon as they became available.
BLOOD ORANGE POPPY SEED LOAF
ingredients
loaf:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup plain greek yogurt
2 tsp. blood orange zest
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup blood orange juice
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
blood orange glaze:
1/3 cup blood orange juice
1 Tbsp. sugar
blood orange slices
steps
loaf:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/4 loaf pan and set aside.
Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the yogurt, zest, sugar, eggs, vanilla, oil and orange juice until combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until incorporated. Add the poppy seeds and stir to combine.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth with a spatula. Bake 50-55 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. After the first 20 minutes of baking, layer orange slices on top of the loaf.
Let the loaf cool in it’s pan for 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
blood orange glaze:
Cook the blood orange juice and 1 tbsp. sugar in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture just comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.
While the cake is still warm, slowly pour the glaze over the top of the loaf, letting it soak in. Place a piece of parchment under the wire rack to catch the glaze for easy cleanup.
Let cake finish cooling before slicing.
