I adore a tall, beautiful and delicious layer cake as much as the next person, but lately, I’m such a fan of simple cakes like this one. Initially, I didn’t even make this for the blog, I was just doing some “procrastibaking” (that is, procrastinating by baking) with leftover ingredients from freelance work because I didn’t feel like sitting in front of the computer all day.
And of course, I was craving something sweet. But I took some photos of it anyway, you know, just because. And when I took the first bite, I knew I had to post it. And doesn’t it look stunning too? I adore oranges, and especially blood oranges so much. I want to use them with everything!
Today I’ll be picking up the keys for my little studio and I couldn’t be more excited! After almost 4 years of working from home, it feels unreal. I can’t really imagine anything else than walking straight from bed to my computer with a cup of coffee (hey, that’s pretty great too!).
Hopefully I’ll be more efficient with work, and it’ll be a nice change of pace to actually come home to relax a little bit after work (we’ll see how the relaxing part goes..)!
BLOOD ORANGE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
Yields one cake, serves 8
You can make this upside down cake with basically any fruit, apples or pears sprinkled with some cinnamon would be so good! Also, when you leave the pith (the white part) and peel of the orange on, you might notice a slightly bitter taste. If you don’t like this – just cut away the skin and the pith like I’ve done here. I did find that after the cake was baked and had rested a day on the counter, covered in plastic wrap, the bitterness from the oranges had completely disappeared.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tbsp. demerara sugar
- 100 g (1 scant stick) butter + extra for the pan
- 50 ml (3 tbsp. + 1 tsp.) thick yogurt (such as Greek yogurt)
- 1-2 blood oranges
- 2 eggs
- 140 g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla powder (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
- 120 g (3/4 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp.) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- zest from 1 blood orange
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Generously grease a 23-24 cm (9-9.5-inch) springform pan with butter. Sprinkle pan with 3 tbsp. demerara sugar, make sure to get some on the sides of the pan aswell.
- Melt butter and stir in the yogurt. Set aside to cool.
- Wash and slice 1-2 blood oranges thinly. Remove any seeds. Put the slices in a single layer in the bottom of the pan.
- Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until very light in color and texture, about 2-3 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Gently stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Add the butter mixture and zest to the batter and stir until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 32-36 minutes (but start checking around 25 minutes) until cake is golden brown on top and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before inverting the cake onto a rack or a plate to cool completely. Serve with the cardamom+almond ice cream from my previous post, or vanilla ice cream – or simply eat it as it is!
This cake is GORGEOUS.
Thank you so much for your sweet note, Gabi! 🙂
What flour would you recommend to make this gluten free?
Hi Alice! I don’t know much about baking gluten free, but I bet a gluten free flour mix would work 🙂 Sorry I can’t be more of a help!
I baked this with Bobs Red Mill GF flour mix (1to1) and it was so delicious! My new favorite cake!!
I just tried this with buckwheat flour and it was SO GOOD! I also replaced the yoghurt with mascarpone. Thank you for sharing! ?
P.S. I love your photos!
Yaay, thank you so much for sharing!! That’s really good to know 🙂 So glad you liked it!
Wow, this looks incredible – I love all the different colours used in the oranges! x
Izzy |http://www.pinchofdelight.com
Thank you Izzy! I’m always excited to cut open blood oranges because they can vary so much in color!
Oh how exciting, Linda!!! Congrats on your studio, and what an absolutely stunning cake — as always!
Thank you so much, Cynthia! Hope you guys are well! xx
Congratulations on getting a studio. I can attest to the fact that working from home can be…distracting. What a great sign of success. This simple cake is so perfect. I am going to florida in a couple weeks and even though I’m on vacation I just love doing lots of cooking. This will be a great treat with all the fresh florida citrus.
Thank you, Stacy! It is indeed distracting. I’ve done it for years so it totally works, but I think I’d feel better about having some place to actually GO to work. Enjoy Florida and oh, how envious I am of all that fresh citrus 🙂
Oooh congrats on the new studio, Linda!
This is an exciting step! I am always procrastinating on that matter… but I do feel tired to be working from home ALOOOONE! >_< (even, if sometimes, it's super enjoyable, too!) I guess balance is the key here! Lots of good work at the studio and good relaxing at home for you, then ! x
Thank you, Christelle! Ah, balance.. Not sure I know that word?! 😉 Let’s see, I hope I’ll be able to relax.. hehe. xx Linda
Looks amazing, Linda! And yay for your little studio, can’t wait to hear more about it!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Anastasia! I’m super excited about it 🙂
Wow, Linda! What a beautiful cake!
I’m new to your blog but made the triple chocolate cake for my best friend’s birthday, and it was delicious. I absolutely adore your photographs, and am so glad to have discovered Call Me Cupcake! Thanks for sharing.
Eliza
Thank you so much Eliza! How sweet of you to make cake for your friends birthday and I’m so happy it was a success 🙂 x Linda
What a lovely cake and the blood oranges always look so good in pictures.
Better make the most of it while they last 🙂
Thank you, Nuno! So true, and they’re so tasty, aren’t they?!
Hi Linda, I am too much excited to cook it after reading this Recipe. It is really wonderful. Keep it up and do share more. Thank you for this one.
Thanks so much for your kind comment!!
The final result looks so good. I love it. The blood orange give a very good color to the pictures 😉
Thank you so much! Blood oranges are so beautiful and delicious 🙂
I loved the recipe, and it was beautiful! I already did with pineapple, but with oranges it looks delicious, thank you! ?
Thank you Izzy, very good
Muito criativo e parece delicioso, parabéns!!
Hi! How long will the cake stay good for? I am making it for a birthday weekend to serve Saturday night. Okay to make it Thursday or shall I hold til Friday?
I’d say hold til friday! 🙂
Thank you!! ☺️??
Plus a beautiful job looks very tasty