Easy Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake

This quick to make Easy Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake celebrates beauty of this fabulous citrus fruit. Impressive & delicious, moist, not overly sweet and with lovely citrussy tang, this cake is perfect with a nice cup of tea!

Don’t you just love the look of upside-down cakes? I think they are visually quite pleasing and thought it was time that one appeared on the blog. It didn’t take me long to choose the fruit to bake with. If you’ve been following my blog for a while you know about my slight obsession with blood oranges and what better fruits to use here! With their lovely reddish hue they really make this cake not only delicious but also really impressive!

What’s so fantastic about this cake?

• It’s quick to make so perfect for when friends or family make last minute call informing you about their descent on your abode and you’ve literally got couple of hours before they show up!
• It is really easy too and you don’t even need a mixer as couple of bowls, whisk and spatula will do the job! You can use the mixer if you want to of course.
• This cake makes perfect accompaniment to cup of tea but serve it with real vanilla ice cream and you’ve got yourself a gorgeous dessert!
• The flavours here are really subtle and you get most of your citrus hit from the fruity top with very gentle notes and sweetness from the rest of the cake.
• I absolutely love the look of it, so so pretty!

Should I peel my blood oranges for upside-down cake or not?

It really is up to you! You could simply slice the orange thinly as is leaving the peel intact or you could do what I did and peel the orange prior to slicing it. The peel might give you a slight taste of bitterness on this occasion and as this cake isn’t overly sweet I’ve opted for removing it (although from the visual point of view unpeeled orange slices look a bit nicer).

If you’d rather keep the peel for visual effect, increase the sugar in your topping to counteract the bitterness.

How do I peel an orange for upside-down cake?

Peeling an orange for using in this cake really is quite easy and my step-by-step photo tutorial should help you further.

1. Cut both ends of your orange and stand it flat on one of them.
2. Using a small serrated blade knife (I use this Fiskars Tomato Knife*) take the peel off your orange by running the knife gently from the top of the cut end to the bottom. This way you take off the strips of the peel as you move down the side of the orange.
3. Peeling the orange this way already removes most of the white and bitter pith but once you’ve taken the peel off make sure you tidy the orange nicely by gently cutting what’s left of it.
4. Once peeled, slice the orange nice and thin removing any seeds that might be lurking in there.

Tips and tricks you might find useful when baking Easy Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake!

– As you need a zest of one whole blood orange in this cake you might want to zest one before peeling it and then proceed with removing the remains of the peel and pith as per above step-by-step instructions.

– Make sure you check your orange slices for any seeds that are trying to hide. You wouldn’t like to bite into one of those!

– There might be a little leakage once the orange slices release their juices (not much mind you) so unless you are using the cake tin with drip-proof edge (this is the one I use* and love) you might want to put your tin on top of baking sheet to catch any leaks.

– When you are left with the small end slices of the orange, make sure you put them on top of sugar with their better looking side down. This will be the side visible after turning the cake upside-down!

– The cake batter needs very little mixing (only until all the ingredients are incorporated) so make sure you take care and don’t overmix it (especially if using standing mixer).

– Make sure you turn the cake out onto the plate or cooling rack whilst it’s still warm (max 5 minutes after you take it out of the oven). This way it won’t stick to the bottom of the tin.

Can I adapt this upside-down cake in any way?

There are few ways you could adapt this cake:

Yogurt could be substituted with buttermilk or even sour cream.

Try swapping some of the plain (all-purpose flour) for ground almonds for that orange-almond flavour combo which works so well. Half and half or slightly higher ratio of ground almonds would work well here.

If you are struggling to source blood oranges or they are out of season, use the ones that are available.

How to store Easy Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake?

This cake is best eaten within 2 days of baking (trust me, 2 days are all you need to polish it off especially with some help) and can be stored well covered in room temperature.

Easy Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake – Step-By-Step

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5 from 9 votes

Easy Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake

This quick to make Easy Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake celebrates beauty of this fabulous citrus fruit. Impressive & delicious, moist, not overly sweet and with lovely citrussy tang, this cake is perfect with a nice cup of tea!

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American, British, International

Keyword blood orange cake, upside-down cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 8 generous slices

Calories 510kcal

Author Jo Allison

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

• 2 blood oranges peeled and thinly sliced (seeds removed if any)
• 85 g demerara or coconut sugar
• 400 g plain (all-purpose) flour
• 160 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs lightly whisked
• 375 ml full fat natural yogurt
• 170 g unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
• zest of one whole blood orange
• 2 tbsp fresh blood orange juice
• oil or butter for coating the tin

26cm/10" round cake tin greased with butter or oil and bottom lined with baking paper (I used a springform with drip-proof edge that prevents juice from leaking out - see notes)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
• Peel and thinly slice two blood oranges (see step-by-step instructions).
• Distribute demerara or coconut sugar evenly on the bottom of the cake tin and arrange orange slices on top (they can overlap slightly). Make sure you put orange slices "neat cut" side down as they will be visible once the cake is turned upside-down.
• In a large bowl or bowl of your standing mixer measure out flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and caster sugar and give it a quick mix with a whisk or paddle attachment (if using standing mixer).
• In a separate bowl measure out the yogurt, add lightly whisked eggs, followed by melted butter and orange juice. Give these a little mix.
• Make a well in the middle of your dry ingredients and add the yogurt mixture. Mix gently until all the ingredients are well incorporated but only just. Take care not to overmix (especially when using standing mixer). Your cake batter will be pretty stiff and lumpy (very similar to American style pancake batter).
• Pour cake batter on top of your orange slices (make sure you do it gently not to mess up your neatly arranged fruit).
• Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until nice and golden and the cake starts coming away from the sides of the tin.
• Take the cake out of the oven and let it stand for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a plate or cooling rack and gently peeling off the layer of baking paper. Let it cool and serve!

Notes

• Nutritional information is approximate, per slice and should be treated as a guideline only.
• I use this ceramic springform with drip-proof edge which prevents the juice from the orange from leaking out. If you are using standard cake tin, place it on top of baking sheet to catch any leaks.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Easy Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 510 Calories from Fat 180

% Daily Value*

Fat 20g31%

Saturated Fat 12g60%

Cholesterol 113mg38%

Sodium 352mg15%

Potassium 231mg7%

Carbohydrates 72g24%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 33g37%

Protein 9g18%

Vitamin A 680IU14%

Vitamin C 4.1mg5%

Calcium 108mg11%

Iron 2.7mg15%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Adapted from Bon Appetit

Some other blood orange recipes you might enjoy

Easy Blood Orange Drizzle Cake

Gluten-Free Orange and Almond Cake

Blood Orange & Ginger Smoothie

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