Vegan Blood Orange Upside Down Cake
This upside-down vegan blood orange cake is fluffy, tender and melts in your mouth. It uses only 6 ingredients, can be made gluten-free and is perfect for morning or afternoon tea!
The addition of blood orange juice (an acidic ingredient) makes the cake utterly moist and soft. And the caramelized blood oranges are simply gorgeous!
What to expect from this vegan orange cake
If you’re after a simple, delicious but visually spectacular cake, this is the cake for you! The cake is moist and has a beautiful crumb. It’s the perfect vegan dessert for Winter or whenever blood oranges are in season.
I love that this cake is made in just one bowl. The most difficult step is chopping the rind off the blood oranges (and cleaning the red aftermath). But the flavor and visual impact of the final cake is totally worth it!
Alternatively, check out my vegan whole orange cake or pineapple upside down cake.
6 ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Almond flour / blanched almond meal adds moisture and a hint of almond flavor which complements the blood oranges. If you’re allergic to nuts or don’t have access to almond flour, I’ve listed an alternative in the recipe box at the bottom of this post.
Sugar complements the slightly bitter blood oranges. If you want a more wholesome cake, you can use coconut sugar although your cake will be denser and darker in color.
Blood oranges, blood orange juice and its zest. The blood oranges are used to top the cake and the juice/zest are used to flavor the cake. The juice/zest gives the cake a beautiful natural pink/orange color! You can also use regular oranges or even mandarins (keep in mind that mandarins have a more subtle taste).
Neutral-flavored oil such as sunflower, avocado or light olive oil. Olive oil will actually complement the flavor of the oranges!
If you’re feeling fancy, you can also add a dash of vanilla extract or orange blossom water to this vegan blood orange cake!
Preparing the topping for the cake
Don’t be intimidated by slicing the blood oranges. It’s easy once you get the hang of it!
I personally found the easiest method for cutting the blood oranges were:
- Slice one end off a orange. Keep the ends for juicing later.
- Place the orange flat side down on the chopping board. This makes the next step SO much easier (no one wants to cut a rolling orange!).
- Following the shape of the orange, cut the rind off the sides. It doesn’t need to be perfect! And of course, you can leave some rind on the orange.
- Place the ‘naked’ orange on it’s side and slice carefully. It really helps if you have a sharp knife for this!
Tip: if you accidentally cut too much into an orange, you can use it to patch up gaps in the topping or simply juice that orange for the actual cake ;).
Alternatively, you can cut the whole orange into slices *then* cut the rind off each individual slice. However, this is a little more time-consuming.
Next, grease the bottom of your cake tin and sprinkle some sugar on top. It helps if your cake tin is air-tight and enclosed (like a regular cake tin or spring-form tin).
I used a loose bottom cake pan which worked but some of the juices of the blood oranges leaked through the gaps (no biggie, just a heads up)!
Next, I randomly arranged my blood orange slices on the bottom of the cake pan. You can create a pattern if you’d like but I simply couldn’t be bothered! And try to make sure there aren’t any big gaps between the orange segments.
Preparing the cake batter
This step is SUPER easy. I’d recommend just using a bowl and spatula or whisk for this step rather than a stand mixer. It’s a small cake and we don’t want to over mix the batter.
Simply add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix until combined. Add all the wet ingredients (including the orange zest) to the bowl.
Whisk until there are no lumps of dry flour (some general lumps are fine). Just make sure you don’t overmix the batter! Pour the cake batter into your cake pan on top of the blood oranges then bake :).
Baking the blood orange cake
We are baking the cake at a slightly lower temperature than normal. This helps create a flatter cake and minimizes any chances of the oranges burning!
Once the cake has finished baking, I’d recommend:
- Cutting the small dome of the cake (if any). We don’t want to invert a domed cake because gravity will cause the cake to crack in the middle.
- While the cake is hot and still in the tin, tug on the baking paper a little to help loosen the cake. This prevents the caramelized oranges from sticking to the tin.
- Let the cake sit in the tin for 20 or so minutes. When the cake cools, it’ll become sturdier which makes it easier to invert :).
- Invert the cake onto a serving plate. Simply place a plate on top of the cake tin (with the serving side face down). Then turn the cake upside down so it is released on the plate. You should hear a very satisfying ‘plop’ noise.
- Remove the cake tin and peel away the baking paper!
And the best part of this cake is that it doesn’t need any frosting or additional decorations!
Can I make this recipe with other fruits?
Yes! Berries and sliced apple will work wonderfully. Alternatively, check out my:
Happy baking!
More easy vegan cakes
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Upside down vegan blood orange cake
Ingredients
Topping
- 3-4 blood oranges
- neutral flavored oil, or melted vegan butter as needed
- 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar, or as needed
Cake
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 1 for gluten free)
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar, (note 2)
- ½ cup (50g) almond flour / blanched almond meal, (note 3 for nut free)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (125g) blood orange juice and zest, from 2-3 medium-sized blood oranges
- ½ cup (125g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Line the bottom and sides of a 20cm (8 inch) round cake pan with parchment paper.
To prepare the topping
- Slice one end off each blood orange and carefully cut off the rind of each orange. Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the peeled oranges. The slices should be about 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick. Refer to the video in this post for guidance.
- Grease the base of your cake pan. Sprinkle the sugar on the base, swivelling your cake pan to make sure it is evenly coated.
- Arrange your orange slices on the bottom, trying to make sure there are no large gaps. You can further cut your orange slices to cover any gaps! Set aside.
To make the blood orange cake
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix until there are no lumps. Add all your wet ingredients and mix until combined and there are no lumps of flour. Pour the batter into your cake pan.
To bake and serve the cake
- Bake the cake for around 40-45 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the cake pan for 10-15 minutes. If there is a dome on the cake, use a serrated knife to cut it off. Invert the cake onto a serving plate and serve! This cake is lovely with a scoop of yogurt, cream or ice cream.
- The cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 days. Allow it to come to room temperature before serving
Video
Notes
- To make this blood orange cake gluten-free, please use 1 cup (100g) almond flour/ blanched almond meal and 1 cup (160g) gluten-free all-purpose flour, in addition to the almond flour already in the recipe.
- This amount of sugar perfectly complements slightly bitter blood oranges. If your oranges are very sweet, you can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup (100g). However, if your oranges are very bitter, please use 1 cup (200g) sugar.
- If you need this cake to be nut free, substitute the almond flour for 1/4 cup (30g) all purpose flour and 2 tbsp (30g) oil.
This recipe was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2021 for simplicity.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
I made this yesterday and it’s gorgeous! I used brown sugar because I didn’t have white granulated and it seemed to work fine. It was still a little gooey in places but I like a moist cake. I’ll definitely be making it again to take to things because it’s so simple but looks amazing. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Hi Cassidy! Aw, that’s amazing and I’m thrilled that you loved it! Thanks so much for your lovely feedback, and I hope you continue to enjoy the cake in the future 🙂
Is there a gluten free flour option?
Yes, see Note 1 in the gray recipe box 🙂
If I was to use stevia sugar instead of cane sugar. Would this work? How would you ‘bulk’ up the recipe to accommodate the less sugar?
I haven’t tested this exact recipe with granulated stevia, but I’ve made some of my recipes with it and it works well as a 1:1 substitution with no other changes. The texture of the final cake is a bit different, but still good to eat. Hope that helps!
Hi Anthea,
Thanks for your amazing recipe. I made this cake with fresh mandarins and it was amazing. Such a moist, delicious cake that everyone loved. Yes, a lot of juice came from the cake tin while cooking, thanks for the heads up, so I placed a tray on the shelf underneath to catch them. My batter looked quite a bit thicker than yours and I was concerned it was too thick, but the cake cooked perfectly in the 45 minutes. I served it with Coyo Greek Yoghurt, a Persian Love Cake syrup (from another recipe) and chopped pistachios. Divine!! Thanks again so much, I will definitely check out more of your great recipes. Bron 🙂
Hi Bron, I’m so glad that you enjoyed these cake, and I love that you made it with mandarins! Thanks for letting me know how the cake baked for you. And I’m drooling at the way that you served it – I use Coyo Yoghurt a lot too, and that syrup sounds amazing!! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment over here!
I made it with regular (dessert type) oranges. Everyone loved it!
However I had to add a bit more plant milk because at first the dough was too thick (thanks for providing the pics that show the right dough texture, it helped a lot! And for providing the nut free option that I used). I also added a bit of turmeric for the color. And I had to bake it for about 15 minutes longer. But even with those adjustments it came out successful, according to my guests!
I have one question though: how many grams of juice and how much of zest would there be if I want to weigh them separately? Maybe I added too little juice compared to zest (even though it all weighted 125g together) and that’s why the dough was thick initially? Thanks!
PS I always appreciate the metric measurements in your recipes, makes eveyrthing much easier!
Hi B! I’m so sorry for the late reply, but I’m so glad that you and everyone enjoyed this cake even with the small adjustments :).
It’s great that you use metric measurements! The zest of one orange is around 5-8 grams (depending on how you zest the orange etc, so it would be around 1 tablespoon of the juice. From memory, I weighed my juice/zest together. When measuring with grams, sometimes cake batter can be a little thicker if you use cold milk as it doesn’t emulsify as quickly/efficiently. And sometimes if you let the batter sit for just 5 minutes, the sugar will dissolve and you’ll get a looser batter. I hope that helps!
Can you make ahead and freeze this cake
Hi Josie, the cake without the oranges on top freezes well. However, the texture and appearance of oranges changes when you defrost them, so I wouldn’t recommend freezing the topping.
Hi Anthea, is it possible that I have to bake the cake for 70 minutes? I’ve made this cake 4 times, and the first time I only baked for 40 as recommended, and it came out of the oven looking perfect, but then it sunk in the middle and upon cutting it, it was basically raw. The next times, I started checking it every 10 minutes after the first 40, and the toothpick comes out clean only after 70 minutes, which baffles me because it’s almost double the original baking time! The only thing is that while the cake is done in the middle, the top is pretty crispy. How could I avoid that? By increasing the temperature of the oven? Or maybe covering the cake in foil after 40 minutes to protect the top? I also try to take out as much moisture out of the orages by patting them with blotting paper as I thought that might help.
Hi Denise, oh that’s very strange! I know that you’ve made a few of my recipes and have baking experience so I’m also slightly baffled. You were right to increase the baking time after your first cake came out raw in the middle. It might be possible that your oven runs a little cool (and takes longer to bake cakes) and has a strong top heating element (cooks the top of cakes quicker). Yes, you can definitely cover the cake pan in foil to to prevent the crispy top. Also, when you mix the cake batter, let it sit for 5 minutes then mix it just once more to make sure the sugar granules are dissolved. Sometimes undissolved sugar gives cakes a crispier top. By any chance, did you use a smaller baking tin or maybe older baking powder? I hope that helps and thanks for your patience!
Hi Denise, do you think your oven might be in Fahrenheit and instead of 340, you put in 170?
Such a quick and easy cake and so delicious. I made it with the blood oranges and it looked stunning. The cake itself was very simple to make in one bowl and was in the oven in minutes. A fabulous looking dessert, everyone loved it. Thank you for another winning recipe!
That’s wonderful feedback Sue-Anne! I’m so happy that you loved this cake and that it was presentable as well. Thanks so much for your support and kindness :).
This is my new go-to cake recipe! So light and fluffy! Thank you for sharing!
I’m thrilled that this recipe is a keeper for you! Thanks so much for your feedback Beverley!
This was DELICIOUS! I opted for the gluten free option. Will be making this again!
I’m so happy that you loved the gluten-free version Erica! Thanks so much for leaving a comment here :).
What GF flour did you use? I just tried making it gluten free and it turned out so gummy 🙁 I used 160 g of Bob’s red mill 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour.
This is one delicious cake! I made the gf version with a mix of blood oranges and oranges on the top. It was consumed far to quickly by (non-gf, non-vegan) guests. My partner was upset at the insufficient volume of leftovers and has asked when I’m making the next one. Thanks for sharing this recipe Anthea.
That is music to my ears! I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed it and that your partner was asking for more :). Thanks so much for your feedback Tracey x
I have made this twice and i am obsessed! I gave some to my grandma and she was in love with it ! 😀
Aw, I’m so glad that you and your grandma loved this cake!!! Thanks so much Grace!
DELICIOUS. Seriously so good. Adding to the recipe book for sure. I served it the next day with a scoop of vegan ice cream and a drizzle of red wine dessert sauce on top. The bitterness of the blood orange contrasted so nicely with the sweet toppings. Absolutely 10/10!
That sounds ammmmazing Fee!! I’m so happy that you enjoyed this recipe :). Thanks for your feedback!! x
Is it possible to substitute blood orange juice for Campari? I’m looking for a vegan Campari cake recipe atm
I think that would work fine! Let me know how you go :).