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 tried it exactly as the recipe
Great recipe thanks!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, Roula! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Hello
If i want to add eggs as i am not vegan, what changes shall i make to ur recipe?
Thanks in advance
Looks really delicious
Hey, I honestly don’t know as I’ve never tried it – you would have to do some experimentation.
Quick, easy and delicious! A great vegan recipe without endless substitutions. We make on repeat throughout the blood orange season as it never hangs around long. A perfect Breakfast Cake, too! (That’s a thing, right?).
Aw that’s amazing to hear Helen! So glad you enjoyed making and eating this cake. Breakfast cake sounds like the best kind breakfast, in my opinion, haha!!
Super easy to make and it came out looking so beautiful. I was nervous about the cake sticking to the pan once inverted, but lining the pan with parchment solved that problem. I will definitely make this again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this cake Alycia! I hear you about being nervous about the cake sticking but glad it worked out for you :). Thanks so much for your comment!
This cake is scrumptious. It is, as promised, light and moist. It’s just the right amount of sweetness and tartness. It comes together easily and beautifully. This is a perfect cake for entertaining. It is beautiful on the table, especially on a tall white cake stand.
Do plan to double the amount of blood oranges, especially if they are on the smaller side. It took 4 oranges for a full layer on the bottom (top?) of the cake, and another four oranges to squeeze 1/2 cup of juice.
Aw that’s amazing to hear Kelly! Yes, using more blood oranges will definitely help if they’re smaller in size! For the top/bottom, it also depends how thinly you cut them etc. Thanks for your feedback!
I made this cake this past Friday to have as a dessert for our Sabbath meal and it was amazing!! The cake was easy to make..the only part that took time was peeling, cutting and squeezing the oranges. The cake came out moist and delicious!! This will definitely be a go to cake recipe for me! I’m actually wondering now if I can try it with a different citrus fruit..would love to try it with grapefruit.
Thank you for a great recipe!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this cake! Yesss I agree, preparing the oranges definitely takes some time. Different citrus such as grapefruit would be lovely! If the flavour is too tart, adding a little more sugar will work with this recipe. Thanks so much for your feedback 🙂
Tried this and it was the biggest baking fail I’ve had in years! Batter was weirdly thick, thicker than muffin batter (wish I had weight measures for the dry ingredients), and despite the toothpick coming out clean in various places, was very underbaked. Sadly had to throw the whole thing out, such a waste of blood oranges.
I’m sorry this cake didn’t work for you! Mis-measuring the ingredients of this cake (and most cakes) can make or break the final product. It definitely sounds your batter had too much flour in it. Thanks for your feedback, nevertheless.
Okay so I’ve been looking for an upside down citrus cake for a while, not really finding any good vegan ones – but then this came into my life!
Swapping out the orange juice (I didn’t have enough oranges) for coconut milk, and a bit of lemon essence made the cake a little coconut-y which was lovely too.
It’s a moist cake that has swindled my whole non-vegan family into loving it and asking me to make it more times than anything else I’ve made recently.
It’s not only a wonderful tasting cake, but it’s also so gorgeous! Definitely planning on using this as a base recipe for other upside down cakes – thank you so much!
I’m stoked that you loved this cake, Max! Using coconut milk and lemon essence sounds so so good. And isn’t it great when non-vegans enjoy vegan cakes?! Thanks so much for your feedback and happy baking in the future! 🙂
You mention removing the baking paper after cooking the cake but the recipe does not say how to use the paper to line the pan beforehand. Do you just line the bottom or the entire pan?
I’d recommend lining the bottom and sides of the cake pan. If you see the step-by-step pictures and video above, you’ll see that I lined the cake pan on the bottom and sides. I hope that helps!
This cake so so easy and amazingly delicious, I made it last night for my family gathering and got so much complements , thank you so much ,
That’s wonderful to hear Diana! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
Absolutely delicious! Just don’t be like me and misread that you need 3-4 oranges for EACH part! I added a little lemonade to make up the missing blood orange juice. Also, don’t be like me and assume olive oil (cheap) would complement – it competes. Can’t wait to make this again with the right amount of blood oranges and a lighter oil! Thanks so much for the amazing recipe.
Haha, I love your comment! Nevertheless, I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake and I love the sound of adding lemonade too! Thanks so much for all the tips 🙂
This looks delicious! I have some orange extract lying around, could that be incorporated into the cake?
Yes! Add it with the rest of the wet ingredients 🙂
This was so so so good! I found this recipe last minute, so I had to use regular oranges since I didn’t have blood oranges on hand. The only problem I had was that the oranges I used were slightly underripe and not as sweet as I would’ve liked, but that’s my own fault. I added some cranberries to turn it into an orange cranberry cake, and it turned out amazing. I’ll definitely be making this again! Thank you for this recipe!
Ooh love that you turned this into an orange cranberry cake! I want to try that one day. Thanks so much for your feedback and kindness 🙂
This cake was so simple to make, yummy and impressed everyone at our picnic! I did not have one slice left. Will make again.
Aw, that’s so nice to hear! It’s definitely a great cake for a picnic :). Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment x
This cake is absolutely delicious, the almond meal makes the texture incredibly moist and light and the intense flavour of the rind permeates the cake, you’ll want to make this time and time again
I absolutely love how you described this cake, Jane! Thank you so so much for your feedback x
Hi,
Would like to try out this recipe.
Is it possible to omit the oil and or any substitution for an oil-free version please?
Thanks 😊
Liang
Hey, you may be able to substitute the oil for applesauce and take away around 20g of the milk. Applesauce tends to make cakes more dense so I can’t vouch for the results. Let me know how you go!
Ah-mazing! Such a hit! Finished this in 2 days and am planning to make it again on the weekend. Moist, delicious and nutritious! Highly recommended.
Aww, that makes me SO happy to hear!! Reminds me that I have to make this again soon as blood oranges have just come into season. Thanks sooo much for your kind comment xo
This cake is DELICIOUS.
I must say that I am not typically seeking out citrus desserts. It’s not that I dislike them, but I will always choose something chocolaty, nutty, or full of berries before citrus. A friend came over for dinner last night and told me they were swimming in mandarin oranges, so I did a quick search for a dessert to make with them.
This cake is perfectly sweet, fluffy with a good chew factor (tough to balance with gluten free foods), was SUPER easy, and will definitely be made again in my home sometime soon. My friend is not gluten free or vegan, and said she would never have known it was both of those things.
We added a little bit of salt on top, since it wasn’t in the recipe — might add a bit to the batter next time. And I served it with oatmilk yogurt. So yum 🙂
I’m the same as you and always prefer chocolatey or richer treats! But I’m soo glad you enjoyed it and it’s the best news that your friend didn’t realise it was gluten free or vegan!
Love that you added a bit of salt on top too and served it with yoghurt 🙂