Citrus Upside Down Cake

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What Are Your Baking Plans This Year?

Happy New Year! It’s 2021. A new year with new challenges. This year, there will be a focus on Food Photography Compositions.
The compositional theme for this month is The Fibonacci Spiral. This is achieved by putting your subjects along a curved line, with your main subject in the smallest part of the spiral. It guides the viewers eyes around the images. And it makes a gorgeous capture!
Since we’re heading into citrus season, I made an Citrus Upside Down Cake that I arranged on the spiral with props with the cake as the focal point.
This cake is adapted from the recipe of Stephanie of Blue Bowl’s Blood Orange Upside Down cake, which is one of my favorites. I just made a few minor changes for my recipe.
The cake is made with the juice and zest of oranges, lemons and pink grapefruits. Such a great combination that worked together so well.
To make the cake, cut slices of all 3 fruits and arrange them in the bottom of a 10 inch layer pan. I left the rind on my fruit slices because I like the look of the fruit with it on, but I don’t recommend eating the rind. So, you can trim it off before you add it to the pan if you like.
Make the cake batter adding in the juice and zest of the citrus. Pour the batter on top of the citrus slices, then add a crumble on top made of flour, sugar and butter. Bake for an hour, then cool slightly before inverting.
This cake is so moist and delicious because it’s made with olive oil instead of butter and of the addition of buttermilk.
This is one cake to try this season!

Citrus Upside Down Cake

Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

Fruit

  • 1 pink grapefruit
  • 2 oranges
  • 2 lemons
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 5 tbsp butter

Cake

  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp orange juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp pink grapefruit juice
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp grapefruit zest
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk

Crumble

  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 4 tbsp butter, softened

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay down a round piece of parchment for a 10 inch cake pan. Butter and flour the sides of the pan. Cut the 5 tbsp butter into small chunks and scatter them in the bottom of the pan. Set aside. 
Slice one of each orange and lemon into thin slices. Slice half of the pink grapefruit and set aside the other half. Set on a large plate and pour the 2/3 cup of sugar over them. Let sit for 5 minutes. 
Lay citrus slices in an even layer in the bottom of the pan and set aside. 
    For the cake batter: Add olive oil and the sugar and mix until creamed together. Mix in one egg at a time. Add the citrus zest, and juices of the second orange and lemon and from the other half of the grapefruit. Add vanilla and mix until just combined. 
Add in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix, then add buttermilk. Pour batter over the citrus slices in the cake pan. 
    Make the crumb topping: In a small bowl, stir together the flour and sugar. Add the butter and mix with fingers until different size crumbs form. Sprinkle the crumbs over the cake batter. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen and then invert the cake onto a cooling rack and cool.
  1. I am so excited to try and make this. My Meyer lemon tree is over flowing and my neighbors blood large and grapefruit trees are hanging over my fence. I also have some buttermilk I need to use up.

    So glad I found this! Thanks for the recipe!!

    1. Hi Stephanie,

      First of all i’m so jealous that you and your neighbor get to have citrus trees in your yard. Lol! And definitely let me know what you think of the recipe!

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