Comfort cook Blood-orange upside-down cake: a sumptuous seasonal bake

Blood orange upside-down cake

A citrussy winter bake with added wow factor

Blood oranges arrive in the new year like a Christmas gift that got lost in the post, and before you can blink, there’s an influx of blood orange everything, everywhere. The crimson flesh is not as sweet as a regular orange, and it is a little tarter. Using these in an upside-down cake really shows them off in all their glory, and they contrast beautifully with the slight peppery edge from the olive oil.

– 75g light-brown sugar – 2 blood oranges

– 150g caster sugar

– 90ml plain yogurt

– 2 eggs

– 45ml extra-virgin olive oil

– 165g plain flour

– 1 tsp baking powder – ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a round, loosebottomed 23cm cake tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of water to make a thick paste. Spread this thinly and evenly on to the base of the cake tin and set aside.

Zest one orange and add this to a large bowl with the caster sugar. Rub the zest into the sugar until the zest is evenly distributed. Set aside.

Slice both oranges as thinly as you can with the skin on and arrange the slices on top of the brown sugar base in the cake tin. You can cut some of the slices in half to create a different pattern and to fill in any large gaps.

Add the yogurt to the bowl with the caster sugar and whisk briefly to combine. Whisk in the eggs and olive oil. Stir in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt until smooth. Gently pour the batter on top of the orange slices, being careful not to disturb the oranges underneath. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the sponge is firm to the touch and golden brown.

Leave the cake in its tin to cool completely before turning it upside down.

Recipe from The New Way to Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi (Page Street Publishing, £16.99)