this upside down coconut flour cake of the orange variety is bursting with sweet citrus flavour, and makes for a beautiful summertime or springtime dessert.
Warm weather equals fun recipes. I mean, cold weather *also* equals fun recipes, but they’re a different sort of fun. Winter recipes are cozy and comfy. Summer recipes are generally more light and airy, and also, more fruity. Enter; the orange upside down cake.
I created this recipe quite recently, it was spur-of-the-moment, in an effort to celebrate my mom’s birthday in the pandemic, once again. We ended up driving to her house, and enjoying the cake outside on the front porch, all the while donning our masks and being appropriately distanced, however, it was still really nice to have some semblance of family gathering and food — and that being said, there are some photos of the orange upside down cake mid-outdoor-birthday-celebrations below– thankfully, while my mom’s birthday is in March, the weather was warm enough for us to be outside, even in Montreal.
Now, I’ve never actually made an upside down cake prior to this, but I figured it was worth trying, and I had plentiful oranges to use up. I was so pleased with the results, it turned out perfect, on my first try no less! And if for some reason you are too scared to flip it and make it truly ‘upside down’, the top (which incidentally will become the bottom) of the cake is also beautiful enough that you could leave your caramelized oranges at the bottom and eat it out of the pan that way. However I will say that flipping it over was extremely easy, and harmless — the cake did not break at all in the process! I’ve included photos as visual aides of the whole cake-making process below as well.
As far as the cake goes, let’s talk about it briefly. It’s a coconut flour cake, while the oranges are sliced and laid flat at the bottom of the cake pan in order to caramelize into a layer of honey and butter, which incidentally, ends up making the entire cake moist and decadent (apologies to those who are anti-moist, it was really the only apt word to use here). The coconut flour cake is also injected with citrus flavour, thanks to a 1/4 cup of freshly-squeezed orange juice.
Find the full recipe below, and please tag me if you try making this recipe, or drop me a comment below. Let me know how it turns out!
A few related recipes if you’re looking for some delicious citrus, grain free recipes:
- MINI ORANGE CRANBERRY LOAVES (coconut flour)
- ORANGE POPPYSEED COOKIES (almond flour)
- LEMON POPPYSEED MUFFINS (coconut flour)
- LEMON CHERRY MUFFINS (coconut flour)
- TANGERINE CHAI COOKIES (almond flour)
orange upside down cake: ingredients
caramel sauce
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 3 tbsp of water
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 1/8 tsp of salt
- 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
cake
- 2-4 oranges, peeled, sliced into circles and the skin removed, about 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thick.
- 3/4 cup of coconut flour
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup of freshly-squeezed orange juice (you’ll need approx one orange for this and the zest)
- 1 tsp of orange zest
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
orange upside down cake: ingredients
caramel sauce
- Start by peeling and slicing the 2-3 oranges, if not already prepared, into circles of different sizes and place them decoratively on a greased 9-inch cake tin.
- Now, prepare your caramel sauce which you will pour atop the orange slices. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the honey to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and stir in the butter, vanilla extract and salt.
- Combine well and allow to simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour the caramel mixture across the orange circle slices at the bottom of the pan.
cake
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients– coconut flour, baking soda, orange zest.
- Add in the wet ingredients, mixing as you go, ending with the eggs and combining well.
- Pour the cake batter across the orange-caramel mixture already in your cake tin, ensuring it’s spread out evenly to the edges of the tin.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool *completely* before attempting to flip.
- Cake flipping: In order to flip the cake, I allow it to get a bit cold for a more firm flip, putting it in the fridge for a bit. Then, take a sharp knife and it’s best to delicately contour the outside-edge of your cake before you flip in order to loosen everything. Take a plate that will fit the bottom of the cake entirely, and place it directly on top of the cake tin, gently moving the cake tin so it is now upside down, on top of the plate, and then gently shimmying the cake out of the tin and directly on to the plate.
orange upside down cake (grain free, scd diet)
Ingredients
Caramel sauce:
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Orange upside down cake:
- 2-4 oranges, peeled, sliced into circles with the skin removed, about 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thick.
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup honey
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice you'll need approx one orange for this and the zest
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
First prepare your caramel sauce and orange base:
- Start by peeling and slicing the 2-3 oranges, if not already prepared, into circles of different sizes and place them decoratively on a greased 9-inch cake tin.
- Now, prepare your caramel sauce which you will pour atop the orange slices. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the honey to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and stir in the butter, vanilla extract and salt.
- Combine well and allow to simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour the caramel mixture across the orange circle slices at the bottom of the pan.
Now, prepare your orange upside down cake:
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients– coconut flour, baking soda, orange zest.
- Add in the wet ingredients, mixing as you go, ending with the eggs and combining well.
- Pour the cake batter across the orange-caramel mixture already in your cake tin, ensuring it's spread out evenly to the edges of the tin.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool *completely* before attempting to flip.
- Cake flipping: In order to flip the cake, I allow it to get a bit cold for a more firm flip, putting it in the fridge for a bit. Then, take a sharp knife and it's best to delicately contour the outside-edge of your cake before you flip in order to loosen everything. Take a plate that will fit the bottom of the cake entirely, and place it directly on top of the cake tin, gently moving the cake tin so it is now upside down, on top of the plate, and then gently shimmying the cake out of the tin and directly on to the plate.