Blood Orange and Olive Oil Cake | Review on “Dessert Person”

Name: Blood Orange and Olive Oil Upside-Down Cake
Yield: 8-10
Ingredients: Extra-virgin olive oil for the pan; 4 medium blood oranges (about 1 1⁄2 lb/680g); 1 1⁄3 cups sugar (9.3 oz/263g); 1 1⁄3 cups cake flour (5.5 oz/156g); 1⁄2 cup semolina flour (2.8 oz/82g); 2 teaspoons baking powder (0.28 oz/8g); 1⁄2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier (1.5 oz/43g); 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest; 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or vanilla extract; 3 large eggs (5.3 oz/150g); 1 1⁄4 cups extra-virgin olive oil (9.9 oz/280g); Plain whole-milk yogurt, lightly sweetened, for serving

The blood orange and olive oil upside-down cake is on the cover of Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz. The stunning visual of this cake is impressive. You want to bake the cake as soon as you gather all the ingredients. More than that, the cake is an excellent olive oil cake. On that count alone, the cake should appeal to those of us who desire a light and dairy-free cake. In terms of flavor, the cake is spiked with orange blossom water and Grand Marnier. For a pleasing texture and a toothy bite, semolina takes the lead role. All in all, the cake excels in so many fronts making it a luxurious and celebratory centerpiece for all occasions.

What I appreciate most about Dessert Person is that Claire Saffitz understands what every baker needs to be successful in a home kitchen. I may be an experienced baker, still there are times and recipes that I fail miserably — for known and unknown reasons. That’s frustrating!

Claire takes care of that. Her recipes and the process are meticulously written and carefully explained to ensure a successful outcome. Furthermore, Claire gives practical advice on why and how to execute each step so that the basic principles of baking becomes something natural for the home bakers. In the book, each step is laid out in the heading and the text contained in a paragraph. Additionally, at the the bottom of the recipe pages, you’ll find helpful tips and reminders for best practices. I find these extras and the amount of handholding reassuring and empowering!

The clear presentation of instructions and well thought-out organization are the critical details I’ve often found missing in some cookbooks. How often do you scratch your head, while rereading the recipes and not getting it? I can’t stress enough the importance of clear and concise directions. In fact, I’ll start adopting the way Claire presents her recipes on my blog.

A practical and no-fuss approach to recipes, which I appreciate greatly, goes one step beyond. Claire is precise and mindful to use, say, the full 8 ounces of sour cream in a single container, not 7 or 9. So you don’t end up with all the odds and ends that most probably would be wasted. If you bake often, the extra leftover things that linger in the fridge can be a deal breaker.

Little (or not-so-little) technical details — like recipe measurements in grams, not in cups, and having images for both the finished bake and the process are invaluable, especially when it comes to more difficult recipes. That’s part of the attention to details which matters to me. To the very least, we expect any baking projects to be worthy of our time commitments. Baking should be fun!

Ultimately, each recipe for sweet or savory baking has to deliver taste. If I spend a good portion of calorie allocation on these sweet things, they better be the best. I’m delighted that Dessert Person positively sings and performs — striking a perfect balance of flavor.

This is a delicious and gorgeous baking book not to be missed! Claire Saffitz sets a new high standard. Without a doubt, you’ll see more recipes from Dessert Person in this space.

Print Recipe

Blood Orange and Olive Oil Upside-Down Cake

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

Extra-virgin olive oil for the pan
4 medium blood oranges (about 1 1⁄2 lb/680g)
1 1⁄3 cups sugar (9.3 oz/263g)
1 1⁄3 cups cake flour (5.5 oz/156g)
1⁄2 cup semolina flour (2.8 oz/82g)
2 teaspoons baking powder (0.28 oz/8g)
1⁄2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier (1.5 oz/43g)
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon orange blossom water or vanilla extract
3 large eggs (5.3 oz/150g)
1 1⁄4 cups extra-virgin olive oil (9.9 oz/280g)
Plain whole-milk yogurt, lightly sweetened, for serving

Instructions

PREHEAT THE OVEN AND PREPARE THE PAN: Arrange an oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan with oil. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper and smooth it to eliminate air bubbles. Coat the parchment with more oil and set the pan aside.

PREPARE THE BLOOD ORANGES: Position a blood orange on the cutting board so the “poles” are to your left and right and the fruit is resting on its side rather than upright. Use a sharp knife to cut off one of the poles, exposing a colorful round of fruit. Then slice the fruit as thinly as possible through the widest part, shaving off rounds that are no thicker than 1⁄8 inch. 3 Reserve the ends for squeezing juice. Remove and discard any seeds from the slices and repeat until all the oranges are sliced (you should have 25 to 30 slices total). Squeeze the reserved ends of the blood oranges into a medium bowl until you have 2 tablespoons of juice (save any remaining fruit for juicing or another use).

BUILD THE UPSIDE-DOWN LAYER IN THE PAN: Add 1⁄3 cup of the sugar (2.3 oz/ 66g) to the bowl with the juice and whisk until you have a smooth slurry. Pour the slurry into the bottom of the prepared pan and tilt in all directions to spread across the parchment. Arrange the orange slices in an overlapping pattern across the bottom of the pan and set aside.

MIX THE DRY INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, semolina, baking powder, and salt to combine and eliminate any lumps.

MIX THE WET INGREDIENTS: In a small bowl, stir together the Grand Marnier, orange zest, and orange blossom water and set aside.

BEAT THE EGGS AND SUGAR: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer), beat the eggs and the remaining 1 cup sugar (7 oz / 200g), starting on low to break up the eggs and gradually increasing to high, until the mixture is very light, thick, and pale, and it falls off the whisk or beaters back into the bowl in a slowly dissolving ribbon, about 5 minutes (with a hand mixer, this will take several minutes longer).

BEAT IN THE OIL: With the mixer still on high speed, gradually stream in the oil and beat until fully incorporated and the mixture is even thicker (it will be slightly reduced in volume).

ALTERNATE ADDING WET INGREDIENTS AND DRY: Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the Grand Marnier mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. After the final addition of flour, stop the mixer and use a large flexible spatula to fold the batter several times, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure it’s evenly mixed.

FILL THE PAN AND BAKE: Gently pour the batter over the blood orange slices, making sure not to disturb them, and smooth the top. Transfer the cake to the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake until the top is golden brown, the center is firm to the touch, and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.

COOL AND UNMOLD THE CAKE: Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool for 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edges of the cake and remove the outer ring (be careful, as some of the juices from the cake might run). Invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the circular base. Carefully peel away the parchment and let the cake cool completely. For the best flavor and texture, wrap the cake in plastic and let it sit at room temperature for at least a day before serving.

SERVE: Slice and serve with sweetened yogurt.