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    Home / Recipes

    Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake

    Published Feb 18, 2012

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    slice of delicious blood orange cake on a plate

    Burgundy-fleshed blood orangestaste like orange mixed with pomegranate and the juice of dark, sweet cherries – fruity, mysterious, tangy, with a hint of bitterness. Their vibrant color makes them a welcome addition during the dark days of winter. (Though to be fair, the plants around here seem quite confused by California's odd weather and all manner of berries, even raspberries and blueberries, are currently fruiting.)

    oranges in a bowl

    Since overcoming my aversion to blood oranges several years ago, I now look forward to their arrival each winter, and keep an eye out for new ways to use them.

    blood oranges cooking in a pan

    So when I saw a recipe in Jamie magazinefor a ginger-clementine upside-down cake, I reckoned that the same cake made with blood oranges would taste – and look – especially vibrant.

    bowl of buter and zest

    The original recipe was not only written in grams, but also vegan, so I remedied both problems straight away: I swapped out the margarine for butter and the soy milk for crème fraîche, and added a couple of eggs. The recipe also called for orange marmalade, which I did not want to buy (or have time to make), so instead I added the zest of a couple of satsumas from our box. Blood orange zest would have been the natural choice and you can certainly zest an orange or two before cutting off the peel, but I like the way the bright, sunny flavor of tangerines helps lighten the mood of the brooding blood oranges. Finally, I traded the powdered ginger for fresh.

    jar of cream

    This cake is a straightforward one to put together: cut the peel and pith off of the oranges and slice them into rounds, lay them atop butter and brown sugar, make a buttery cake batter and spread it on top, bake until done.

    cake mix spread on fruit

    The cake slips out of the pan with a 'plop,' ruby juices running down the sides, oranges glistening like rubies atop a dense, moist cake. Take a bite, and the flavors of sunshine flood your mouth, the ginger and vanilla creating a warm backdrop for vibrant citrus. A dollop of crème fraîche helps to round out the complex flavors of the blood orange; though you could make a stunning presentation by pooling vanilla crème anglaise around the cake and swirling in a drizzle of blood orange reduction.

    blood orange cake
    If you're looking for still more blood orange inspiration, here are a few more ideas:

    • Add blood orange juice to a glass of Prosecco for a colorful mimosa, or use it to mix up a margarita
    • Whip up a blood orange curd and bake it into a rosy, butterytart, or use it to fill lemon poundcakelets topped with mascarpone cream
    • Stir up a blood orange olive oil cake
    • Supremes add a bright pop to anycrepeorpancake;or arrange the ruby slivers around a panna cotta
    • Blood orange granita or sorbet, with or without the addition of fresh ginger, goes well with meyer lemon buttermilk ice cream and sbrisolona
    • A classmate in pastry school once made a blood orange sabayon and paired it with gingerbread bread pudding, something I have been meaning to try
    • Toss segments into a salad – beets, avocado, fennel, pomegranate pistils, crumbly cheeses, arugula, pine nuts and hazelnuts are all good contenders
    • Blood orange juice adds a rosy hue to any rhubarb recipe; it also pairs well with strawberries
    • Bake slices into a stunning galette
    • Make a blood orange compote (my favorite recipe comes from Chez Panisse Desserts) and serve with honey yogurt ice cream or drizzle a blood orange reduction around chocolate bouchons cakes and gild the lily with black pepper-vanilla ice cream

    top down shot of upside down cake

    What do you like to do with blood oranges?

    slice of orange cake on a plate

    More Upside Down Cake Recipes:

    • Banana Rum Cakelets
    • Cranberry-Pear Gingerbread
    • Ginger Pineapple, with Coconut Lemongrass Ice Cream
    • Über Apple Upside-Down Cake

    *Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram,  Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this blood orange upside-down cake recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet  and  #bojongourmet.*

    5 from 2 votes

    Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    A delicious blood orange dessert you are going to love!
    Alanna Taylor-Tobin
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 45 minutes
    Total: 1 hour 5 minutes
    Servings: 8 to 10 servings (makes one 9" cake).

    Ingredients

    The topping:

    • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, in a few pieces (1 1/2 ounces)
    • 1/2 cup soft light-brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
    • 1 1/2 pounds blood oranges (about 5 medium)

    The cake:

    • 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (1/2 cup)
    • 2/3 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1-2 blood oranges or tangerines.
    • 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger root (from 3/4 ounce ginger, peeled)
    • 2 eggs, at room temperature
    • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons crème fraîche (3 ounces)
    • 2 tablespoons blood orange juice (1 ounce)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Instructions

    Make the topping:

    • Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 350º.
    • As the oven preheats, place the butter in a 9" round cake pan and put it in the oven to melt. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter and return the pan to the oven for about 5 minutes until the sugar is moistened and distributed evenly over the bottom of the pan.
    • Meanwhile, use a sharp paring knife to slice the top and bottom from the blood oranges. Place a cut-side down, and, following the curve of the orange, cut away the peel and white pith. Cut the orange cross-wise into 3/8" rounds. Repeat with the remaining oranges. Reserve any juices to use in the cake (I like to squeeze the butts and peels to get every last bit of juice).
    • Lay the orange rounds over the buttery sugar in the pan in a single layer using the fattest pieces and starting with the outer ring, and filling in the center with the smaller pieces. Set aside while you make the cake batter.

    Make the cake batter:

    • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, zest and ginger until fluffy and lightened in color, about 5 minutes on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
    • Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
    • In a measuring cup, stir together thecrème fraîche, blood orange juice and vanilla extract.
    • With the mixer on low, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, let stir to incorporate, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half of thecrème fraîche mixture, let incorporate, then scrape. Repeat, adding another 1/3 of the dries, half of thecrème fraîche, and the rest of the dries. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the batter with a rubber spatula to make sure the batter is completely homogeneous.
    • Dollop the batter over the orange slices, which may have released some juices and that's a-ok, and spread it evenly.
    • Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes. (If the cake cools too much, the orange goo may stick the pan; no worries, just return the cake to a hot oven for 5 minutes or so to re-melt it.)
    • Loosen the edges of the cake with a thin knife or offset spatula, invert a large plate over the top of the cake. Wearing oven mitts, grasp the cake and plate together and bravely flip them both over. Rap the plate on the counter a few times to dislodge, then remove the cake pan. Let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour – the cake is still baking from residual heat, so try to resist cutting into it too soon.
    • For the cleanest slices, use a serrated bread knife to gently saw through the orange slices, which can be a bit messy. Serve slices with extracrème fraîche, or crème anglaise (see headnote).
    • The cake is best served shortly after cooling, but will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature.

    Notes

    Inspired by the vegan Ginger-Clementine Upside-Down Cake in issue 24 of Jamie magazine.
    I used the zest of 2 small satsuma mandarins in this cake; if you prefer to use blood orange zest, zest 1-2 blood oranges before cutting off the peels to make the topping. You can make your own crème fraîche by stirring 1 tablespoon buttermilk into 1 cup of heavy cream and letting it sit in a warm spot for 24 hours; alternately, you can substitute the same amount of whole milk in the recipe and increase the flour to 1 3/4 cups – these two variations taste almost identical.
    The cake benefits from a creamy accoutrement; serve slices with additional crème fraîche, or decorate a pool of crème anglaise with drips of blood orange reduction.
    All ounce measurements are by weight.
    Nutritional values are based on one of eight servings.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 416kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 5gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 102mgPotassium: 307mgFiber: 3gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 790IUVitamin C: 47.9mgCalcium: 100mgIron: 1.5mg
    Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!

    Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake

    Inspired by the vegan Ginger-Clementine Upside-Down Cake in issue 24 of Jamie magazine

    I used the zest of 2 small satsuma mandarins in this cake; if you prefer to use blood orange zest, zest 1-2 blood oranges before cutting off the peels to make the topping. You can make your own crème fraîche by stirring 1 tablespoon buttermilk into 1 cup of heavy cream and letting it sit in a warm spot for 24 hours; alternately, you can substitute the same amount of whole milk in the recipe and increase the flour to 1 3/4 cups – these two variations taste almost identical.

    The cake benefits from a creamy accoutrement; serve slices with additional crème fraîche, or decorate a pool of crème anglaise with drips of blood orange reduction. All ounce measurements are by weight.

    Makes one 9" cake, 8-10 servings

    The topping:
    3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, in a few pieces
    1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) soft light-brown sugar
    1 1/2 pounds blood oranges (about 5 medium)

    The cake:
    4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
    2/3 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
    1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1-2 blood oranges or tangerines.
    1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger root (from 3/4 ounce ginger, peeled)
    2 eggs, at room temperature
    1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
    1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
    1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3 ounces) crème fraîche
    2 tablespoons (1 ounce) blood orange juice
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Make the topping:
    Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 350º.

    As the oven preheats, place the butter in a 9" round cake pan and put it in the oven to melt. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter and return the pan to the oven for about 5 minutes until the sugar is moistened and distributed evenly over the bottom of the pan.

    Meanwhile, use a sharp paring knife to slice the top and bottom from the blood oranges. Place a cut-side down, and, following the curve of the orange, cut away the peel and white pith. Cut the orange cross-wise into 3/8" rounds. Repeat with the remaining oranges. Reserve any juices to use in the cake (I like to squeeze the butts and peels to get every last bit of juice).

    Lay the orange rounds over the buttery sugar in the pan in a single layer using the fattest pieces and starting with the outer ring, and filling in the center with the smaller pieces. Set aside while you make the cake batter.

    Make the cake batter:
    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, zest and ginger until fluffy and lightened in color, about 5 minutes on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

    Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.

    In a measuring cup, stir together thecrème fraîche, blood orange juice and vanilla extract.

    With the mixer on low, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, let stir to incorporate, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half of thecrème fraîche mixture, let incorporate, then scrape. Repeat, adding another 1/3 of the dries, half of thecrème fraîche, and the rest of the dries. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the batter with a rubber spatula to make sure the batter is completely homogeneous.

    Dollop the batter over the orange slices, which may have released some juices and that's a-ok, and spread it evenly.

    Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes. (If the cake cools too much, the orange goo may stick the pan; no worries, just return the cake to a hot oven for 5 minutes or so to re-melt it.)

    Loosen the edges of the cake with a thin knife or offset spatula, invert a large plate over the top of the cake. Wearing oven mitts, grasp the cake and plate together and bravely flip them both over. Rap the plate on the counter a few times to dislodge, then remove the cake pan. Let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour – the cake is still baking from residual heat, so try to resist cutting into it too soon.

    For the cleanest slices, use a serrated bread knife to gently saw through the orange slices, which can be a bit messy. Serve slices with extracrème fraîche, or crème anglaise (see headnote).

    The cake is best served shortly after cooling, but will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature.

    slice of upside down cake

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    Hungry for more?

    Alternative Baker celebrates the unique tastes and textures of 14 gluten-free flours, from buckwheat flour to almond flour to sorghum and coconut! This cookbook will fill your kitchen with sweet treats that burst with flavor every month of the year.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ann Lam says

      February 21, 2012 at 5:53 pm

      This looks amazing!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        February 03, 2013 at 8:08 am

        Thanks, Ann. :)

        Reply
      • Erica says

        February 07, 2013 at 5:00 am

        Beeutiful! Must try this, with one of my cake recipes that are grain and gluten-free.

        Reply
      • Alanna says

        February 07, 2013 at 6:47 am

        Awesome - please let us know how it comes out!

        Reply
    2. Anonymous says

      January 26, 2014 at 4:45 am

      Just took this out of the oven! Celeste

      Reply
    3. Anonymous says

      January 26, 2014 at 5:48 am

      Cake is delicious! I used crystallized ginger and it was perfect! Celeste

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        January 26, 2014 at 6:51 am

        That's awesome! I'm so glad you like it. Thanks for the nice comment!

        Reply
      • Anonymous says

        February 15, 2014 at 1:21 am

        I'm making this again tonight and I subscribed to your blog! Thank you for sharing! Celeste

        Reply
      • Alanna says

        February 15, 2014 at 1:58 am

        That makes me smile - thanks!!

        Reply
    4. Judith says

      March 23, 2018 at 11:53 am

      This cake looks absolutely amazing. I absolutely LOVE Blood Oranges. I'm planning on making it tomorrow after I go to store to get creme fraiche and ginger root. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. After we try it I will let you know how it turned out.

      Reply
    5. Katia says

      April 20, 2019 at 5:52 pm

      This is so delicious, I can't stop eating it. How can anyone keep it for 3 days??? Thank you for this recipe!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        April 21, 2019 at 10:25 pm

        Awwww I'm so glad you like it!

        Reply
    6. AB says

      May 22, 2020 at 2:40 pm

      This turned out fantastic! I used a combo of blood oranges and kumquats and made it vegan with flax eggs, non-dairy butter and non-dairy cream cheese thinned out for the crème fraiche.
      Celebrated graduation with this baby! Thank you for another great recipe :)

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        May 25, 2020 at 6:05 pm

        Brilliant, I'm so glad those substitutions worked well. Thanks for sharing them with us! And happy graduation. :)

        Reply

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