This sugar free upside down blood orange cake has a tender, moist cake topped with a low carb syrupy, citrus topping. The blood oranges get candied and caramelized during baking and maintain their gorgeous color for a special presentation.
Why this recipe is just so good....
- The cake is both moist and tender as well as sturdy and slightly dense. It stands up to the syrupy topping allowing it to slightly seep in to the cake but does not get soggy or mushy.
- The blood orange slices get candied and crunchy. They are not just for decoration, you can actually eat them.
- Even though this cake gives a beautiful presentation and looks company ready, it is very easy to make. Don't let the blood oranges put you off making it year round. There are many different varieties of oranges that will be delicious in this recipe.
Ingredient Notes
- Although the blood oranges are the star of this recipe, they don't have a long season of availability. Try Mandarins, Cara Cara, tangerines and Naval Oranges.
- This recipe uses almond flour, not almond meal. Be sure not to substitute with almond meal. The almond flour is a finer texture and is lighter in color and is much preferred in baked goods.
Step by Step Directions
- Prepare the baking pan by greasing and lightly flouring. Line with parchment and lightly spray with non stick baking spray. Place 7-8 slices of orange on top of the parchment paper.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter and add brown sugar substitute. While stirring, bring to a low simmer, cooking for about 2 minutes to thicken.
- In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the eggs, sour cream, vanilla and orange juice.
- Beat the sugar substitute and softened butter for 3-4 minutes in a mixing bowl, add the zest and beat for one more minute.
- Add in the egg mixture and beat into batter on medium low speed. Pour in flour mixture, ½ cup at a time, and mix on low speed for one minute to combine well.
- Pour batter over oranges and syrup. Smooth with spatula to evenly distribute the batter.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Baking Tips
- This cake is naturally be a bit more dense due to using almond and coconut flour and not having gluten in it. But don't exclude one flour for the other since they are not interchangeable in a 1:1 ratio. The combination of both of these flours gives the cake a terrific texture.
- Always make sure the dairy ingredients are room temperature before baking to ensure a smooth batter. Sally's Baking Addiction has an excellent article about this. This applies to keto and non-keto baking.
- Many baked goods can stick in the pan. In addition to using non stick baking sprays and pans, I recommend using parchment paper to line the bottom of your pan. Give the pan a light spray, line with parchment, and spray again.
Sugar Free Orange Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This sugar free upside down blood orange cake has a sweet, sticky caramelized topping. It has a deliciously simple, moist and slightly dense cake, not to be outshined by the gorgeous blood orange slices.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Topping
- 4 tablespoons ( ½ stick) unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup brown sugar substitute ( I used Swerve brand)
- 1 medium blood orange *
Cake
- 1 cup fine almond flour, sifted ( I used Wellbees brand)
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour, sifted ( I used Bob's red mill)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar substitute ( I use ½ cup Swerve + ¼ Monkfruit
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Grease and lightly flour a 9 inch round non stick cake pan. Place a piece of round parchment paper on bottom and spray with non stick baking spay.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium high heat and bring just to a full simmer. Reduce heat to low flame.
- Mix in the brown sugar, stirring with spatula for approximately 1 - 2 minutes. Syrup will thicken as it continues to cook.
- Slice blood orange into 7-8 slices.
- Place orange slices in bottom of pan. Pour syrup into prepared pan, over the orange slices and set aside.
- Stir together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt in a small bowl.
- Into another small bowl, mix whisk together the eggs, sour cream, vanilla and orange juice.
- Into a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar substitute on medium high speed for about 3-4 minutes. Scrape bowl, add in the orange zest and beat for 1 more minute.
- Turn mix down to medium-low speed and slowly add the egg mixture. Beat for about 30 seconds. Scrape bowl.
- On low speed, beat the flour mixture, ½ cup at a time into batter, mixing for only about 1 minute after all flour is added.
- Pour the batter over the orange/syrup coated pan and spread evenly in pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes, test the cake with a toothpick. If it is still wet or has large crumbs on the toothpick, continue to bake another 5-10 minutes. Test again.
- Let cool for 15 minutes on a cooling rack. Place a plate over the top of pan and using oven mitts, grasp both the plate and pan together and flip cake over on to plate
- Remove the parchment paper from cake and let fully cool before serving. **
Notes
* If blood oranges are out of season, you can use other types of oranges such as: cara cara, mandarin, tangerine and clementines.
*The nutrition is calculated with the orange in the recipe. If you don't eat the slice, the carb count will be slightly less. And the recipe is calculated for 8 generous pieces of cake. If you eat a smaller slice, you will save some carbs as well. But if this is a treat for you, then just work it into your daily plan and enjoy!
**Allow cake to fully cool before you slice it. Cakes made with almond flour are a bit more fragile if sliced while still warm.
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