Orange Blueberry Upside Down Cake

Happy Birthday to Me! I’m celebrating my special day with Orange Blueberry Upside Down Cake. It’s fresh fruity and so inviting!

It’s my birthday today! On my birthday I like to do a few things to sow my oats so to speak…

First off, I like to pretend I’m very old and wise so I can give everyone around me unsolicited advice on life matters, whether they want it or not. It’s a way for my internal bossy to escape on the one day of the year everyone has to put up with it. *wink*

Second, I like to have absolutely zero responsibilities for a solid 24 hour period. No chores, no unpleasant correctional mommy moments, no errands to run, etc. Lt. Dan is usually pretty good at making that happen for me.

Finally, I like to enjoy a really really good cake, even if that means I have to make it myself. Preferably the day before my 24 hours of no chores.

Most years I crave chocolate on my birthday, so I make this cake, or this cake. However this birthday I’m craving fruity, decadent, dripping with buttery syrup, upside down cake.

This fun twist on a classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake is loaded with fruity goodness and is two layer tall, so it looks and feels like a birthday cake.

I decided to go with one of my favorite fruity combinations, blueberry and orange. I made one cake layer an orange upside down cake and another layer a blueberry cake.

This works out rather nicely, because if you stack them with the orange cake on the bottom, the flat orange slices create the “filling” in between the cakes.

This upside down cake batter is ultra rich with a note of orange from fresh orange zest. I shaved the peel off a couple oranges and sliced them to make a decorative layer at the bottom of one cake pan.

After the cakes cool they flip out rather nicely, don’t you think?

Notice the golden soaked edges of the cake… Each cake pan is lined with a layer of butter and brown sugar before the fruit is added. The butter and brown sugar not only flavor the fruit while cooking, they create that saturated oozy layer of goodness on the bottom top of an upside down cake.

This is not a step to skip or a cake to try to healthify, if you know what I mean. Upside Down Cakes are meant to be naughty.

Once both cakes are cool, carefully flip the blueberry layer out on top of the orange layer and let the warm juicy blueberries drip down the sides a little.

This is pure summertime magic!

Each layer of this Orange Blueberry Upside Down Cake offers a buttery flavor and soft pillowy texture, with rich saturated moistness around the edges. You just don’t get that with other cakes.

The orange center is a lovely surprise to bite into and the blueberry topping, dripping with brown sugar syrup… forget about it! 

See why I wanted Orange Blueberry Upside Down Cake as my birthday cake this year?

Cut thick slices and serve it with your favorite creamy topping… vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream, or sweetened mascarpone if you want to be fancy.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Leave a Review »

Orange Blueberry Upside Down Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

I'm celebrating my birthday with Orange Blueberry Upside Down Cake. It's fresh fruity and so inviting! The perfect cake for summer.

Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

• 3 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened (3 sticks, divided)
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 large oranges
• 3 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch cake pans and sprinkle with extra sugar. Shake the pans around for good coverage, then dump out the excess sugar. Set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, cream 1 cup (2 sticks) of softened butter with 2 cups of granulated sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs and vanilla. Scrape the bowl and beat until smooth.
• Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Once mixed, turn the mixer on low and slowly add the flour mixture along with the buttermilk. Zest one orange and beat the zest into the batter.
• Melt the last stick of butter and pour evenly into the two cake pans. Then evenly divide the brown sugar and sprinkle to coat the bottom of each pan.
• Cut the tops and bottoms off the oranges. Gently shave the skin off the oranges, then slice the naked oranges into 1/4-inch rounds. Arrange the orange slices over the bottom of one cake pan. Trim pieces if needed to make them fit over the entire surface. Then pour the blueberries into the other cake pan and shake to level.
• Pour the batter into both cake pans. Because the blueberries will come up a little higher than the oranges, it's ok to add a little more batter to that pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Check by inserting a toothpick into the center of both cakes. When it comes out clean, the cakes are done. The blueberry cake may take a few minutes longer than the orange cake.
• To assemble: Allow both cakes to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. Both cakes need to be close to room temperature so they don't fall apart! Flip the orange cake out onto a cake plate. Wiggle the pan to release the oranges. If a slice or two stick to the pan, piece it back in it's proper place. Then carefully flip the blueberry cake layer on top of the orange cake layer. Wiggle to release. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g, Calories: 606kcal, Carbohydrates: 88g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Cholesterol: 131mg, Sodium: 155mg, Potassium: 256mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 63g, Vitamin A: 910IU, Vitamin C: 15.2mg, Calcium: 104mg, Iron: 1mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Sommer Collier

Making this recipe? Follow us on Instagram and tag @ASpicyPerspective so we can share what you’re cooking!

Share This Recipe With Friends!