Unique Retro Upside Down Four Citrus Cake
Retro Upside Down Four Citrus Cake Originally published on Sept 10, 2020. Updated on August 27, 2021.
This Retro Upside Down Four Citrus Cake is one of the loveliest cakes I have ever made. My baking group’s weekly challenge called for an upside down cake. The first thing that came to mind was of course the popular pineapple upside down cake. I thought it might be fun to try something different and searched on Pinterest and social media for ideas and inspiration.
After browsing for a while, I came upon pictures of orange upside down cakes that use various types of oranges. I was instantly entranced by these sunny and fresh looking cakes. All that beautiful variation of oranges made me want to EAT them! That got me thinking that perhaps I can make a version using different citrus fruits. I rummaged around my fridge and found grapefruits, oranges, lemons, limes and clementines. I decided to stick with the sweet fruits and left out the lemons and limes.
This post share my efforts to put this cool retro cake together. Doesn’t it look like an orb of sunshine on a plate? How can anyone look at this and not have a smile on their face? 🌞
Ingredients for Retro Upside Down Citrus Cake
For this recipe, you will need to prepare the fruits that will go to the bottom of the pan, and then the cake batter that will be poured on top of the fruits. I will list out the ingredients roughly in the order in which it will be used.
Prepare the following Fruits:
1 each navel orange, cara orange, grapefruit, clementine
⅓ cup of granulated sugar
3 tablespoons of water
For the Cake Batter, you will need 1 cup of granulated sugar,
½ cup unsalted butter, slightly softened at room temperature
1 tablespoon of zested orange rind, or more if you like a stronger orange essence scent
2 large eggs
¾ cup greek yogurt or any thick unsweetened yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tablespoon of fresh squeeze orange juice
1½ cup All Purpose Flour
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
In addition to the ingredients, you will need a 9″ cake pan, preferably one with a detachable bottom.
Preparing the Citrus Slices
Let’s gather all the ingredients. Next, preheat oven to 350° F. Brush a 9″ cake pan with butter. Line the bottom and sides of pan with parchment paper
Start by zesting the rind from the oranges. You’ll need about 1 tablespoon of zest. Once done, set it aside. Then, prepare the fruits for the bottom of the pan. Slice the grapefruit, oranges, and clementine to ¼ to ½” thick rounds.
Use a sharp knife to remove the rind from each citrus slice.
Next, heat the ⅓ cup sugar with 3 tablespoons water together for about a minute. Stir to make sure the sugar has completely dissolved.
When ready, pour this syrup mixture into the bottom of the prepared cake pan. Arrange the citrus slices in an overlapping pattern. Then set the pan aside.
Preparing the Cake Batter
Next, let’s put together the cake batter. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter and orange zest until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, yogurt, vanilla and orange juice and combine until well mixed.
In a medium bowl, sift and whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Then, add the dry ingredients to the liquids ½ cup at a time. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix the batter.
When ready, carefully pour batter over the citrus slices in the prepared cake pan. Spread the batter evenly. Gently tap the pan to remove any air bubbles. Next, pop the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until the top turns golden brown. To check, insert a bamboo skewer or toothpick into the middle of the cake. It should come out clean. If not, bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven, and place on cooling rack. Wait for cake to cool before inverting onto a cake platter or stand. And you are done! Stand back and admire your cool retro upside down cake.
Notes on Upside Down Four Citrus Cake:
- When layering the slices at the bottom of the pan, alternate the different fruit slices so you can see the varying colors and sizes.
- Also layer the citrus slices up the sides of the pan, so that it will look attractive when the cake is unmolded.
- After pouring the batter into the pan, gently swirl the cake batter so that it covers the sides of the pan.
- You can experiment with different types of oranges to create a beautiful contrast of colors.
- This cake tastes delicious on its own. Or serve with scoops of vanilla ice cream or small whipped cream.
Postscript:
I am totally in love with the look and taste of this vintage cake! It made me wonder what other gorgeous vintage desserts to try next. Here are a few articles that I found that are good inspirations:
This article from Southern Living, showcases 30 different vintage cakes from the past: https://www.southernliving.com/desserts/cakes/vintage-cakes I am particularly taken by #18 the Coffee Baba au Rhum cake. It sounds tasty!
Here’s a round-up from All Recipes.com that highlights 7 Retro desserts that should make a comeback. https://www.allrecipes.com/article/retro-desserts-that-need-make-comeback/ I love the idea of a Fresh Peach Trifle. Yum!
More Fab Food Ideas:
If you love this retro cake, how about trying out a gorgeous-5 tier pink meringue cake? It is so light and delicious, it feels like eating a cloud. That’s why I called it the Pavlova Cloud Cake. You can read all about it here => The Astonishing and Delightful Pink Ombré Pavlova Cloud Cake
If you in the mood for something savory, have you seen my Zucchini and Cheese Galette? You can see how I put it together here => Quick Zucchini and Cheese Galette
Or for a quick baked fun size casserole cups that bakes up in under an hour, check out this link =>Quick Fun Size Baked Veggies Cheese Casserole (Bacon Optional) You can make both vegetarian and non vegetarian cups in one pan at the same time!
Retro Upside Down Four Citrus Cake
Ingredients
Fruits
- 1 each navel orange, cara orange, grapefruit, clementine
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tbs water
Cake
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 Tbs orange zest
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbs fresh squeeze orange juice
- 1½ cup All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Brush a 9" cake pan with butter. Line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
- Start by preparing the fruits. Zest the rind from the oranges (about 1 tablespoon), set aside. Then, prepare the fruits for the bottom of the pan. Slice the grapefruit, oranges, and clementine to ¼ to ½" thick rounds. Use a sharp knife to remove the rind from each citrus slice.
- Heat the ⅓ cup sugar with 3 tablespoons water together. Stir to dissolve sugar. Pour this sugar mixture into the bottom of the prepared cake pan, arrange fruits slices on top. Set aside.
- Next, let's prepare the cake batter. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter and orange zest until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, yogurt, vanilla and orange juice and combine until well mixed.
- In a medium bowl, sift and whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the liquids ½ cup at a time. Mix until just combined.
- When ready, pour batter over the citrus slices in the prepared cake pan. Spread the batter evenly. Gently tap the pan to remove any air bubbles. Pop into the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until the top turns golden brown. To check, insert a bamboo skewer or toothpick into the middle of the cake. It should come out clean. If not, bake for another 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven, and place on cooling rack. Wait for cake to cool before inverting onto a cake platter or stand. And you are done! Stand back and admire your cool retro upside down cake.
Notes
- When layering the slices at the bottom of the pan, alternate the different fruits slices so you can see the varying colors and sizes.
- Also layer the citrus slices up the sides of the pan, so that it will look attractive when the cake is unmolded.
- After pouring the batter into the pan, gently swirl the cake batter so that it covers the sides of the pan.
- You can experiment with different types of oranges to create a beautiful contrasts of colors.
- This cake tastes delicious on its own. Or serve slices with scoops of vanilla ice cream. Or small pats of whipped cream.