This upside-down Orange and Pomegranate Cake is unbelievably moist and delicious! Serve slices with a dollop of Greek yoghurt on the side for a fabulous, effortless dessert.
I have such a thing for blood oranges at the moment. I’ve been eating them in salads, finding excuses to bake with them and eating them just as they are.
I’ve tried a few blood orange cakes over the years, such as this fabulous blood orange olive oil cake, but the one I’m sharing with you today is a new favourite. I found this blood orange and pomegranate cake on the BBC Good Food website. I adapted the recipe slightly, but it worked so well I’ve made it several times since and I don’t change a thing.
The honey-soaked orange slices and jewel-like pomegranate seeds that adorn the top of the cake look so beautiful. It is a cake worthy of the name showstopper but with none of the hard work.
It’s similar to Nigella Lawson’s clementine cake in that a whole cooked orange is pureed and added to the cake batter. This method produces a really moist, flavourful cake with an unusual but lovely texture.
ingredient notes for blood orange and pomegranate cake
Please scroll to the bottom of the post to find a printable recipe card with ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
- Self raising flour provides structure to the cake and gives a fluffy texture.
- ground almonds make this cake extra moist.
- Oil – I use a flavourless oil such as sunflower, vegetable or light olive oil. You don’t need to use anything expensive, like extra virgin olive oil. It would be wasted!
- orange blossom water adds a beautiful fragrance to the cake that isn’t overwhelming. I used Nielsen Massey. This is also used in the soaking syrup.
- runny honey is drizzled over the base of the cake tin before placing sliced oranges on top (for an “upside down” cake). You’ll also need a little honey for the cake batter.
- sugar – caster sugar is always my first choice for cakes as it dissolves faster, but if you use granulated it won’t ruin the cake.
- Greek Yoghurt – Full Fat is the best choice. I like Total Greek Yoghurt.
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 4 Oranges. I used blood oranges, but you can of course use regular oranges instead. One orange is cooked and blitzed to a rough puree for the cake batter. Two are thinly sliced for the top. You’ll also need one for the orange syrup.
- Pomegranate seeds, for decorating the top of the cake.
step by step
Step 1. Cook one of the oranges in simmering water for 30-35 minutes or until soft. Drain, remove the orange and leave it to cool slightly.
Cut the orange in half and remove the pips. You can either blitz the orange in a food processor or chop it into tiny pieces using a large sharp knife or Mezzaluna (herb chopper). I chose to do the latter because I was (too lazy) not in the mood to get my processor out.
Step 2. Grease a 20cm round springform cake tin with butter or flavourless oil. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of honey over the base. Place sliced oranges inside the tin in whatever decorative manner you like.
Since we aren’t using baking parchment, I would strongly advise you to use a decent cake tin for this recipe. If the tin is prone to sticking, I wouldn’t use it!
Step 3 – Place the wet ingredients (sugar, oil, Greek yoghurt, orange blossom water, eggs and honey) in a medium bowl or jug and stir until well combined.
Step 4 – Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk. Add the liquid ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the pureed orange.
Step 5 – Pour the batter into the cake tin. Bake in a preheated oven (180C/160 Fan/350F/Gas mark 4) for around one hour or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin for about 10 minutes to cool slightly while you make the syrup.
Step 6 – Make the orange syrup by simmering the juice of one orange, 100g sugar and 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water until the mixture is almost reduced by half and looks…syrupy! This will take about 5 minutes.
Step 7 – Place a serving plate on top of the cake tin and invert, then slowly release the clip and carefully lift the base of the tin away. If any of the orange slices are stuck to the tin, simply remove with a spatula and place back on top of the cake.
Step 8 – Pour most the orange syrup over the cake (I like to save a little for drizzling over slices later) and decorate with pomegranate seeds.
serving
This cake is simply stunning with thick Greek yoghurt and a little extra orange syrup drizzled (and more pomegranate seeds) on top. In fact, I would recommend DOUBLING the ingredients for the syrup so you’ll have plenty leftover for later. Leftover syrup can easily be warmed up for a few minutes on the hob.
storing
This cake will be fine in an airtight tin for up to 3-4 days. It’s one of those cakes that gets even moister and damper after a couple of days, so it’s a great one to make ahead of time for a dinner party or special occasion.
Orange and Pomegranate Cake
Adapted from "Blood orange blossom and pomegranate cake" by BBC Good Food Magazine February 2015, this orange and pomegranate cake is made incredibly moist and delicious by adding a whole cooked orange to the batter.
Ingredients
- 3 blood (or regular) oranges
- 250g flavourless oil, such as vegetable or sunflower
- 50g honey plus 2 tbsp
- 300g caster sugar
- 200g Self raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 100g ground almonds
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 tbsp orange blossom water
- 150g Full Fat Greek yoghurt
- 75g pomegranate seeds
- FOR THE SYRUP:
- 100g caster sugar
- Juice of one blood orange
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
Instructions
- Place one of the oranges in a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the orange is very soft.
- Remove from the oven and once it has cooled a little, cut in half and remove the seeds.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160F/350Fan/Gas mark 4.
- Grease a deep 20cm round springform cake tin with butter, making sure the sides get a good coating.
- Drizzle 2 tbsp of honey over the base of the tin, then slice the remaining two oranges quite thinly and arrange in the tin.
- Puree the cooked orange in a food processor, or finely chop until the orange peel is in tiny pieces.
- Place the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- Place the oil, sugar, eggs, orange blossom water and Greek yoghurt in a medium bowl or measuring jug. Stir until well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Stir in the pureed orange and pour the orange flecked batter into the tin, being careful not to dislodge the orange slices.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it upside down on a plate.
- For the syrup, place the caster sugar, orange juice and orange blossom water in a small pan. Slowly bring to the boil, turn down the heat and allow the mixture to bubble for a few minutes until it becomes syrupy.
- Pour around half of the syrup over the cake but save the rest for serving later with Greek Yoghurt or vanilla ice cream. Generously sprinkle the pomegranate seeds all over the cake.
Notes
Storing: This orange cake will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
I often make double the amount of syrup so I have plenty for serving with slices of cake later!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 590Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 28gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 449mgCarbohydrates: 69gFiber: 3gSugar: 50gProtein: 8g
Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.
looks delicious!! I bought a few (very pricey!!!) oranges at my store today, I think this is how I am going to use them!
look at shiny and delectable this cake is! I need to hunt down some blood oranges, stat π
Nickki this looks so beautiful!!! π
Thanks Ashley! π
It’s so worth tracking them down to make this cake! π
Thanks Amy π
Definitely saving this recipe for a future tea party! Goodness, that looks tasty.
Thanks – it really is a lovely cake!
So yummmy!!! I’ll have to do it!
Thanks Ivette π
So yummy, I like it!
Thanks π