Blood Orange + Earl Grey Bundt Cake

1. Melt butter and milk in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring gently until hot and steamy. Remove from heat. Place tea leaves in a muslin bag, then place the bag in the saucepan ensuring it is fully submerged (if using tea bags, simply place them straight in the melted butter mixture). Stir and allow to steep for 60 minutes. When ready to use, remove muslin bag, squeezing to extract maximum flavour.
2. Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan-forced), set oven rack in lower third of the oven and heavily grease a 20cm 5 cup capacity bundt pan.
3. Beat together eggs and sugars until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes, then add the tea mixture and beat on low speed until combined, followed by vanilla and blood orange zest.
4. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt, then mix together with semolina.
5. Add one third of the sifted dry ingredients while beating on low speed, then one third of the blood orange juice. Continue alternating batches of dry ingredients and juice until batter is smooth, taking care not to overmix.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until lightly golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cover cake for the last 5-10 minutes of baking time if starting to brown significantly.
7. Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a plate with a lip and drizzle with warm earl grey syrup. Allow to cool completely.
8. If the cake sticks to the pan, placing the pan cake-side-up in a tray filled with 3-4cm of boiling water for 2-3 minutes expands the cake pan and allows easier release. Take great care not to burn yourself and do not allow the water to come into direct contact with the cake.

Earl Grey Syrup

1. Read baking notes carefully regarding ingredient quantities, as these differ slightly if using teabags. If using teabags, double the quantities of sugar and water.
2. Simmer water, sugar and tea leaves (or tea bags) in a medium saucepan until the ingredients thicken into a syrup, then add vanilla. Allow to steep for 5-10 minutes.
3. Strain syrup (or remove tea bags if using), squeezing to extract maximum flavour.
4. Pour the warm syrup over the warm cake, allowing the syrup to soak in as the cake cools.

Citrus Striped Icing

1. Mix 200g of icing sugar together with blood orange juice. If icing is too thick, add a little more juice, and if it is too thin, add a little more sugar.
2. Mix the remaining 80g of icing sugar together with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. If icing is too thick, add a little more juice, and if it is too thin, add a little more sugar.

To Serve

1. Place bundt cake on serving plate and drizzle blood orange icing over cake, allowing a little bit to drip over the sides. Drizzle the lemon icing on top in a striped pattern, either using a spoon or a piping bag fitted with a narrow round nozzle for greater control.

Enjoy!