Wolfgang Puck is in charge of Oscar sweets this Sunday. I propose this one, a classic combination if there ever was one. This is for the chocolate orange fans. The rest of you can go play with the other kids in the playground.

When I was bedridden with the Winter Beast invader, I craved oranges and had them every day. Popping up in a medley of citrus segments is the sweetest delight of all: the blood orange, higher in antioxidants than other oranges. I bit into one and so began a winter crush now well past the swoon stage. Juicing them makes me giggle: the colour is blushing all over my kitchen. Do we crave the things our bodies need in winter? The oranges on my counter are sending signals. YES!.

Mostly, I just inhaled these oranges on their own. But Oscar requires upping my game. So I turned on the oven, found the pan and made a pound cake (there is no better smell in your kitchen than buttery pound cake) with a beautiful blood orange glaze seeped in through every crispy crack.  Sliced it when warm over a pool of bittersweet chocolate sauce, producing an immediate Oscar-worthy dessert. Oscar loves a sexy couple and there is none better than chocolate and orange. Blood oranges just kick it up to eleven.

What are the celebrities at the Governor’s Ball having on their dessert plate?  Here’s Wolfgang Puck’s 2019 Oscar menu. He’s had 25 years of planning menus for the famous afterparty. 

Now that you’re properly hungry, get baking. Or read more on the Oscars:

What I would change about the Oscar ceremony

The Films Oscar missed

Unpredictable means entertaining (she hopes) 

As for the recipe, here it is, adapted from Ready for Dessert, by David Lebovitz.

Blood Orange Pound Cake

Makes one 9-inch loaf

What you need: 

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ¾ cup(1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• Grated zest of 2 oranges, preferably organic (about 4 teaspoons)

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  For the syrup glaze:

• ½ cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice

• ¼ cup granulated sugar

For the chocolate sauce:

• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa, Dutch-process

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• ¼ cup light corn syrup or agave

• 1 cup water

• 2 ounces chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate

What you do:

1. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the inside of a 9-inch loaf pan. Dust the inside of the pan lightly with flour. Line the bottom with a rectangle of parchment paper

2. Whisk together flour, the baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Combine the cup of sugar, butter, and the orange zest in a mixer with paddle attachment.  Beat on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

4. Beat the eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl, then add to bowl while the mixer is running, making sure it is completely incorporated. (The mixture will look curdled; that’s okay.) Remove the bowl from the mixer.

5. Stir in the flour mixture with a spatula by hand until just combined; do not overmix. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top.

6. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes then run a knife around the inside edges to loosen the cake, then invert to remove the parchment paper on the bottom. Turn the cake right side up on a plate.

7. For the syrup glaze: combine juice and sugar in small bowl. Use a wooden skewer to poke 50 holes in the top of the cake, all the way through to the bottom. Spoon half of the syrup evenly over the top of the cake, then turn the cake on each of its sides, spooning the remaining syrup to coat the cake evenly. Use any syrup that collects on the plate to coat the bottom of the cake.

8. For the chocolate sauce: Combine cocoa, sugar, corn syrup and water in small pot and bring to a boil, whisking to remove any lumps. Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Whisk until smooth.

   Cut the cooled cake into slices. Serve with warm bittersweet chocolate sauce pooled on the plate and blood orange segments on the side. Go ahead and swoon. It’s expected of you. Just don’t drip chocolate on your Oscar gown.