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You are here: Home / Other / Blood Orange Spice Cake with Greek Yogurt Frosting

Blood Orange Spice Cake with Greek Yogurt Frosting

March 23, 2018 by Hayley 11 Comments

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The sweet tang of blood oranges mixes with the rich taste of spices in this absolutely stunning Blood Orange Spice Cake with Greek Yogurt Frosting. Even while mixing the ingredients I could tell something magical was going to happen once it was all baked together. I had envisioned this gorgeous upside down blood orange cake for weeks now. To come up with this recipe I had to reserve engineer the image in my head into something that was not only beautiful, but flavorful too.

blood orange spice cake on white cake stand with tea and oranges

I am not naturally a baker as I live more by the a dash or this and a glug of that method when creating food. Baking requires much more precision and real measuring. My first couple attempts at this blood orange spice cake with greek yogurt frosting were just not quite right or didn’t come together as easily as I was hoping. I had to readjust and learn from what hadn’t worked the first time.

Normally I make my husband spend a couple of hours photographing the food before I let him eat it. So he was pretty happy to get the eat the “mistake” versions while I was working on the final recipe. I believe in making sure that all the recipes I bring to you not only taste great, but are easily repeatable. The final attempt and the recipe I’m sharing with you absolutely nailed it.

Tips for making the perfect blood orange spice cake:

Testing and retesting a recipe you learn some important tips along the way. Some you might already know because you are a better baker than me. But I hope that maybe I can stop someone else from making the mistakes I have commonly made in the past.

  1. Always mix your wet and dry ingredients separately before combining. While I do really love to have less bowls to wash this is an instance where you absolutely must use two. This will make sure that your wet and dry ingredients are fully incorporated before you add them together. As in no chunks of baking soda in your finished cake.
  2. Keep your mixing to a minimum. You know when your mom makes homemade bread and it’s like chewy through a particularly dense bagel? No? Just me? Well that is due to over mixing. It activates the gluten and does other science things. Just make sure to mix until combined and then stop. Don’t keep doing it or you won’t have a light and airy cake that you want.
  3. Want to make your cake sit perfectly even? Use a long knife (like a bread knife) to even out the top of the bottom layer. Cut the cake horizontally to shave off the raised part on top. This will allow the top layer to sit on the bottom layer flat. 

blood orange spice cake on a white cake stand

While blood oranges do make this cake look absolutely stunning I believe that it would work just as well with any other oranges too. I have only made this cake in two 9″ rounds so I cannot speak to how it would adjust for other sized pans. Please let me know how it goes if you choose to make it in any other sized pans though!

Don’t forgot to share your pictures with me on social media at #thesimplesupper! I can’t wait to see how it turns out for you!

 

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blood orange spice cake on white cake stand

Blood Orange Spice Cake with Greek Yogurt Frosting

The sweet tang of blood oranges mixes with the rich taste of spices in this absolutely stunning Blood Orange Spice Cake with Greek Yogurt Frosting. This upside down cake recipe is so simple for how incredible it looks. Ginger, allspice, and cinnamon mix to make this cake simply out of this world.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword blood orange cake, greek yogurt frosting, orange spice cake
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling Time 30 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8 People
Calories 379 kcal
Author Hayley

Ingredients

Spice Cake Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp Butter Or desired shortening
  • 3 Blood Oranges Sliced into rounds w/ rinds removed
  • 2 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour Sifted
  • 2 Tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1 Tsp All-Spice
  • 1 Tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 Tsp Ginger
  • 1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
  • 1/2 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Stick Butter Room temperature/softened
  • 1 Cup Maple Syrup
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
  • 1 Cup Applesauce
  • 1 Tbsp Blood Orange Zest
  • 2 Tbsp Blood Orange Juice

Greek Yogurt Frosting

  • 1 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
  • 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Spice Cake

  1. Turn oven on to 350 degrees to preheat. Grease two 9" cake pans with butter or desired shortening. Arrange orange slices in the bottom of one pan to be the top layer. Set aside.

  2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients. All-purpose flour, baking powder, all-spice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and maple syrup until incorporated. Add eggs, applesauce, vanilla, zest, and orange juice and mix until thoroughly combined.

  4. Slowly add the the dry ingredients to the wet. Mixing as you go. Mix only until combined. Do not over mix!

  5. Evenly distribute batter between both cake pans. Careful to not disturb oranges in the top layer pan.

  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are golden brown.

  7. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes without disturbing. After 10 minutes overturn pans on a wire cooling rack and let cool for 20 more minutes.

  8. Prepare frosting while cakes are cooling.

Greek Yogurt Frosting

  1. Add yogurt, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract and mix until thickened. This takes about 3 minutes. Let chill if not yet ready to use.

  2. Using a spatula or a knife spread frosting over bottom layer (the cake without the oranges). Place other layer on top with oranges facing upwards. 

  3. Let chill in fridge for 30 minutes or more for frosting to set.

  4. Remove from fridge and serve! Can be kept for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

Any kind of orange can be substituted for blood oranges if they are out of season. You can also substitute the maple syrup for 1 cup of granulated sugar if that's what you prefer to use.

I found that it was easiest to slice the oranges, then cut the peel off rather than peeling and then slicing them. 

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Filed Under: Course, Desserts, Other, recipe Tagged With: blood orange, cake, dessert, greek yogurt, spice cake

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Claudia Lamascolo

    March 23, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    I dont know how many times I wanted to buy blood oranges in Florida and had no recipe until now! thanks looks mouth watering

    Reply
    • Hayley

      March 23, 2018 at 2:15 pm

      Thanks Claudia! Be sure to check out my blood orange and ginger drumstick recipe too if you need to get some! They are fabulous!

      Reply
  2. Beth

    March 23, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    5 stars
    Oh wow! You totally nailed the gorgeous part! I can’t wait to give this a try! Citrus is my favorite in baked goods!

    Reply
    • Hayley

      March 23, 2018 at 2:30 pm

      Thank you Beth! Citrus is sooo good in everything. This is embarrassing but I only recently got a microplane zester and now I am obsessed with putting zest in everything!

      Reply
  3. Jessica Robinson

    March 23, 2018 at 3:17 pm

    5 stars
    What an amazing cake with such wonderful flavors with blood orange. We’re huge lovers of Greek Yogurt, so this cake is perfect!

    Reply
    • Hayley

      March 24, 2018 at 12:14 pm

      The greek yogurt frosting is crazy simple to make but so delicious!

      Reply
  4. Jagruti

    March 23, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    We both are in the same boat, as I always cook just like you, a dash of this and glug of that, so I find baking more of a tedious job 🙂 But hey, this Cake is perfectly baked with wonderful flavours!

    Reply
    • Hayley

      March 24, 2018 at 12:15 pm

      Thank you Jagruti! It is tedious , but it’s worth it!

      Reply
  5. Dana

    March 23, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    5 stars
    What a great way to use blood oranges! I never buy them or use them, and every time I see a gorgeous recipe like this that uses them, I hate myself for it! I need to fix this ASAP ????

    Reply
    • Hayley

      March 24, 2018 at 12:16 pm

      You do need to get some Dana!

      Reply
  6. jacquee | i sugar coat it!

    April 2, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    5 stars
    I adore blood oranges – so sad to see their season coming to an end. Love all the flavours in this cake and the pops of colour atop.

    Reply

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Welcome!

Hello! I'm Hayley the author, recipe developer, and taste tester for this blog. I love creating simple, healthy recipes that everyday people can enjoy. I share recipes and the tips and tricks I have learned on my journey. I'm excited to share my meals with you! Read More…

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