Blood Orange Upside-down Cake

Beautifully arranged blood orange slices on a rich, intensely chocolaty cake and finished with a sweet and sticky orange glaze.

TO MAKE THIS YOU WILL NEED

• plain flour

• cacao powder, preferably organic

• bicarbonate soda

• baking powder

• a pinch of salt

• apple cider vinegar

• coconut oil, preferably cold-pressed and extra virgin

• brown or white sugar

• vanilla extract

• canned coconut milk

• blood oranges - for slices, juice and zest and the glaze

• castor sugar for the glaze

ORANGES

As you might notice from my blog and IG page blood and blush oranges are available at the moment! They are great to use in breakfasts, baking and even salads. I love blood oranges, probably prefer them to the regular oranges.

Besides the colours, the difference between blood oranges and the regular oranges is that the blood oranges are often sweeter, almost a bit floral tasting and less acidic than regular oranges.

If you don't have blood or blush oranges you can use regular oranges.

CAKE SIZE

Please note this recipe makes a 15cm diameter cake. This is smaller than the regular cake tin size.

THE GLAZE

Although not necessary it's definitely recommended. It adds a beautiful glossy finish to the cake.

It's so easy and simple of make with a bit of orange juice and sugar.

In the images below you can see on the left what the cake looks like without the glaze and on the right with the glaze. The cake itself is not very sweet so the glaze also adds additional sweetness, which is especially good if the oranges are a bit tart.

REASONS TO LOVE THIS CAKE

If you love dark chocolate, you will love the rich, chocolate cake.

It's sweet, but not too sweet.

The combination of chocolate and orange is a match made in heaven

Oranges are available (in the UK) all year around - so you can make this any season!

OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Vegan Chocolate Orange Brownies

Dark Chocolate Cake

BLOOD ORANGE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Thinly sliced orange on a rich, intensely chocolate cake and finished with a sticky orange glaze.

TIME 1 hour 15 min

SERVES 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE

• 140g plain flour

• 50g organic cacao powder

• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• a pinch of salt

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 120ml coconut oil, extra virgin

• 150g castor sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 220ml coconut milk (canned)

• 50ml blood orange juice

• zest from 1 blood orange

• 1/2 blood orange, sliced thinly (keep other half for the glaze)

FOR THE GLAZE

• juice from 1/2 blood orange

• 1 tbsp castor sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 160 Celsius (180C fan) and grease a 15cm round cake tin.

2. Zest an orange before slicing half of an orange into thin slices. Put the other half of the orange aside for the glaze. Cut any access orange peel from the slices, as it can be bitter.

3. Sprinkle the base of the cake tine evenly with a little bit of sugar, before arrange the slices on the bottom of the cake tin. Set aside. Cut slices into smaller pieces if needed to cover as much as possible of the base with the orange slices.

4. In a bowl sift the flour, cacao powder, baking soda, baking powder and set aside.

5. In another bowl combine the coconut milk, salt, vinegar, sugar, orange juice, coconut oil and vanilla extract and whisk until combined. Add the flour mixture and whisk the batter until smooth using a balloon whisk.

6. Carefully pour the batter over the orange slices and spread evenly. Bake for 40 – 50 min or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

7. Remove the cake from the oven and let the cake cool in the tin, on a wire rack, before carefully flipping it over onto a plate.

8. To make the glaze heat the orange juice and castor sugar in a small pan and reduce until it's thick and glossy.

9. Brush the glaze evenly over the oranges on the cake using a cake brush.