Before we launch into all things Spring 🌸🐥🌱 (not that we aren’t delighted it’s finally showing its face) we just want to enjoy one last blood orange moment. These Blood Orange Upside Down Cakes are light and elegant. We made them as teacakes but this recipe can also be made as one large upside down cake with overlapping layers of jewel-like citrus. They’re the perfect accompaniment for Afternoon Tea with your Mother in Law 😉or just as a breakfast treat with your morning cappuccino. A light almond flour crumb, a sweet, yet tart, note of citrus and a hint of cardamom …. what better way to say buh-bye 👋 to winter?
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (225 g + 45 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (130 g) brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2-3 medium-sized blood oranges (you need 12 slices of orange total) & their zest
• 1 cup (120 g) almond flour
• 1/2 cup (65 g) all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup (80 g) greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Prepare a muffin tin with non-stick spray, or if you're making a large cake, prepare a 9-inch (23 cm) cake tin.
Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and lemon juice and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Divide the mixture into the bottoms of the muffin tin using a teaspoon. You don’t need to worry too much about spreading it out in the muffin tin as it will naturally spread during baking.
Zest the oranges and keep the zest for the batter. Slice the tops and bottoms off of the oranges. Then slice along the skin from top to bottom, following the curve of the fruit, to remove the peel and the white pith. Slice each orange into 4-6 thin ‘wheels’, horizontally across the fruit, and discard the seeds. Place a wheel into each muffin tin on top of the melted sugar.
In a large bowl, combine the zest, almond flour, flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, mix the remaining butter (1 cup/225 g) and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs in one by one, then add the greek yogurt and cardamom. Using a spatula, fold the dry mixture into the butter mixture.
Divide the batter evenly amongst the muffin tins, filling them 3/4 of the way. Bake for 25 minutes until golden (if you’re making one large cake bake 40-50 minutes) and until they bounce back when touched. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes and then carefully run a knife along the edges of the cakes to loosen them. Turn them out onto a wire cooling rack and enjoy with an XL cup of tea.