Mar 17, 2020

Blood Orange upside-down cake

It doesn’t take an anthropologist to spot that cake has an important role to play in most of our celebrations and has done so (in one form or another) since the earliest times. In the bakery we find there is always something to celebrate, whether it’s the traditional festivals of Christmas, Mother’s Day and Easter or the ever-more popular Valentine’s Day and Halloween. 

Ingredients

For the cake mixture

- 200g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 200g caster sugar
- 200g self-raising flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder - 2 tsp vanilla paste
- 3 medium eggs
- 60ml full-fat milk

Blood Orange Cake

- 210g caster sugar
- 100ml water
- 4 blood oranges, skin on, sliced and pips removed

This Blood Orange cake will take you through every season. It looks beautiful and tastes amazing.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Grease and line a deep 25cm cake tin.

2. If you are making the spring or summer cake, gently melt the butter and sugar together in a small saucepan, then pour this into the bottom of the tin. Arrange your chosen fruit on top.

3. If you are making the autumn cake, melt the butter, sugar and crystallised ginger together in a small saucepan, then pour this into the bottom of the tin. Arrange the pears on top.

4. If you are making the winter cake, heat the sugar and water in a pan until nearly boiling. Add the sliced oranges and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Remove the orange slices and put aside to cool, then continue to boil the syrup until it thickens slightly. Pour the syrup into the base of the tin and arrange the oranges on top.

6. Now make up your cake mixture. Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. If making the autumn cake, add the ground ginger.

7. Spoon the batter on top of the prepared fruit in the bottom of the tin and level with a spatula.

8. Bake for 35 minutes until golden and the cake springs back to the touch.

9. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out upside down onto a plate. It is important to turn it out before the cake is cool.

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Published by Nathaniel Mahoney