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!

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 gray recipe box at the bottom of this page.

Cane sugar. I'd always recommend using the full amount of sugar for the best flavor and texture. However, you can slightly reduce the amount. If you would like a healthy blood orange cake, you can use coconut sugar instead, although this will make the cake slightly darker.

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:

1. Slice one end off a orange. Keep the ends for juicing later.
2. 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!).
3. 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.
4. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 :).
4. 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.
5. Remove the cake tin and peel away the baking paper!

How to serve this cake

The cake is amazing by itself whether it's warm or at room temperature. It definitely doesn't need any frosting but you can dust it with powdered sugar if you'd like.

I also love serving the vegan blood orange cake with a dollop of thick coconut yogurt, cream or ice cream :).

I hope you enjoy this recipe x

More easy vegan cakes

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This recipe was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2021 for simplicity.

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