Preparation time: 60-80 minutes | Serves: 4-6 people
Blood orange season comes around in Sydney just as Spring is about to bloom. There's something so special about the colour and flavour and I couldn't think of a better way to showcase them than in this upside-down cake.
With its sunset hues - dark red orange flesh, pinkish-orange rind and golden base, this citrus cake recipe makes for a striking dessert that will get you excited for spring.
Ingredients for this Blood Orange Almond Cake -
The base of the cake is made with a sliced blood orange (peel and all) that is boiled for a few minutes to remove the bitterness of the peel and pith.
The juice of a second blood orange creates a sticky, sweet syrup for the base. Instead of a traditional sugar syrup, I flavoured mine with rose honey from Maya Sunny Honey, paired with cinnamon, fennel seeds and sumac which add earthy, floral notes.
Oranges and almond are such a classic pairing, so I made a delicate almond cake for the base. I use olive oil for its light, fruity flavour, folded with almond meal, eggs, brown sugar and a touch of flour. You can expect an airy yet moist and crumbly cake that soaks up all the bright citrus flavours.
Serving suggestions -
Because of all the contrasting flavours in this cake that strike a yet delicate balance, I love serving it with a complementary drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil from Pukara Estate.
That said, you can also serve it with a thick dollop of cream, generous drizzle of honey or warm, with vanilla ice cream.
Find some more suggestions and swaps in the recipe notes.
Ingredients
For the blood orange syrup -
-
2 blood oranges (1 sliced, 1 juiced)
-
3 tbsps. rose honey*
-
3 cups water
-
1 cinnamon stick
-
1 tsp. sumac*
-
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds*
For the cake -
-
100 gms olive oil*
-
50 gms Greek yoghurt
-
80 gms brown sugar
-
2 eggs (room temp)
-
1 tsp. vanilla essence
-
100 gms almond flour/ meal*
-
50 gms flour
-
1/2 tsp. salt
-
2 tsps. baking powder
-
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
-
Extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Method
Making the syrup -
-
Boil the blood orange slices in a saucepan with 2 cups water for 10 minutes. Gently remove and save for later. Discard the liquid.
-
Pour juice from second orange, 1 cup water, honey, and spices to the pan.
-
Simmer for 15-20 minutes on a low heat until reduced by half - you’re looking for a thin, sticky syrup.
-
Discard the cinnamon stick and set aside to cool.
Baking the cake -
-
Preheat the oven to 180°c and line an 11 inch cake tin.
-
Arrange boiled orange slices in the tin base, overlapping slightly (refer to the image above). Drizzle with 3/4 of the syrup (save the rest for later).
-
Whisk the olive oil, yoghurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
-
Fold in the dry ingredients.
-
Pour cake batter (it will be quite thick) into the prepared pan on top of the oranges.
-
Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and cooked through the middle.
-
Allow to cool slightly, then flip so the oranges face up and and peel off baking paper.
-
Pour the remaining syrup over the cake.
-
Serve warm with a generous drizzle of olive oil.
