Blood Orange Thyme Upside Down Cake Recipe

This Blood Orange Thyme Upside Down Cake recipe, with hints of thyme and ginger, is a lovely cake perfect for tea time or any time of the day.

I had oranges, so I made cake. That’s what you do when you have oranges, blood oranges to be exact.

Last weekend Randy and I were snowed in so I adapted this Blood Orange Thyme Upside Down Cake recipe from my Strawberry Upside down cake. Thyme was added with a bit of ginger for a delectable cake that is oh so perfect for tea time, or any time of the day for that matter.

Blood Orange Thyme Upside Down Cake Recipe is easy enough to make. The most challenging part of the process is cutting the rinds off of the oranges in order to cut thin pieces for the cake. Preparing the oranges is simple! Begin by cutting off the tops and bottom of oranges. Then using a knife, carefully cut off rinds and pith of oranges from top to bottom, following the curve of the orange. Once all peeling and pith have been removed, thinly slice oranges and remove any seeds. That’s it! So easy. As I said, that part is about as difficult as this cake gets, which isn’t so difficult at all. It just takes a little time and patience. We could all use a tad more time and patience, huh?

When you’re snowed in like we were, there was an abundance of time to carefully carve oranges, catch up on all kinds of laundry and watch movie after movie, and of course, eat cake! And there is always time for eating cake, snow or no snow. I do hope you enjoy this lovely cake recipe as much as we do! Happy baking!

More homemade cake recipes you’ll enjoy:

• Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Cake Recipe
• Easy Upside Down Strawberry Cake Recipe
• Southern Sweet Potato Cake Recipe
• Magic Custard Cake from White on Rice Couple
• Moist Banana Cake from My Baking Addition
• Gooey Butter Cake from Tidy Mom

Blood Orange Thyme Upside Down Cake Recipe

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Blood Orange Thyme Upside Down Cake Recipe

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

A delightful upside down cake, with hints of thyme and ginger, that is perfect for tea time or an after dinner dessert.

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Ingredients

• 4-5 blood oranges*
• 3/4 cup (6 oz, weight) butter, softened and divided
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
2. Grate 1 tablespoon of zest from oranges. Cut off tops and bottom of oranges. Carefully cut off rinds and pith of oranges from top to bottom, following curve of orange. Thinly slice oranges and remove any seeds. Set aside.
3. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9-inch round or 9x9-inch square baking pan in oven until melted. Carefully remove from oven. Whisk brown sugar into melted butter until combined. Place back in oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and whisk slightly to blend; spread evenly across bottom of pan. Arrange blood orange slices evenly over top of butter/sugar. Reserve any extra slices for garnish. Set aside.
4. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
5. In a separate mixing bowl beat together remaining 1/2 cup softened butter, granulated sugar, orange zest, thyme and ground ginger until slightly lightened in color, about 3 minutes. Scrape down bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla extract until smooth.
6. Alternate adding in flour/baking powder mixture and milk, mixing until just combined. Scraping down bowl as needed.
7. Carefully spoon batter over blood orange slices in baking pan and gently spread evenly.
8. Bake at 350-degrees F until wooden pick or cake tester comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then invert onto serving plate. Scrape out any remaining syrup from pan and drizzle over cake.
9. Serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Notes

*Depending on size of oranges you may need more or less.

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