GILL MELLER’S BLOOD ORANGE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
The perfect balance of sweet, sharp and ever so slightly bitter. You can make this cake with regular oranges but there’s something special about the flavour and colour of blood oranges – the season is rather short so grab them while you can.
Preparation time 10 minutes | Cook time 50 minutes | Makes 1 cake
200g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
3 large Stonegate Estate organic eggs
2 tbls of runny organic honey
6 cardamom pods, bashed and seeds crushed
225g ground almonds
125g fine polenta
1 teaspoon baking powder
A good pinch of sea salt
For the topping:
3 – 4 blood oranges
2 tablespoons caster sugar
Preheat the oven to 150°C fan. Grease and line the base of a 23cm springform tin with baking parchment.
Grate the orange zest nice and finely and set aside. Peel the zested blood oranges and slice them into 1cm rounds, removing any pips as you go. Sprinkle the caster sugar over the lined base of the tin, then arrange the blood orange slices in a single, slightly overlapping layer.
Beat the butter with the caster sugar, crushed cardamom seeds, the blood orange zest and the honey, until very pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix for another minute or two so it’s nice and light.
Combine the ground almonds with the polenta, baking powder and sea salt, then fold this mixture gently into the creamed butter and eggs.
Spoon the batter carefully over the arranged orange slices, spreading it evenly without disturbing the fruit.
Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until the cake is risen and set and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
