Grapefruit Upside Down Olive Oil Cake

My Grapefruit Upside Down Olive Oil Cake is what winter cake dreams are made of. It’s light and full of subtle, bright flavors; sweet and moist from layers of real grapefruit baked right in. Creating a layer of swirling grapefruit is calming and fun, and the result is beautiful. This cake is gluten-free, sweetened with only natural sweeteners, and needs no icing or frostings. You’ll want one cooling on your counter all winter long!

Upside Down cake is just so retro, right? Honestly I’ve always loved that look of shiny roasted fruit stuck to the top of a delicious cake…but I’d never made one!

Nope, not even pineapple with fake cherries.

But here I was, haunted in my mind by the thought of a beautiful grapefruit upside down cake and I just HAD to tackle it.

In the same mindset, I’d been craving an olive oil cake. Something lightly flavored, slightly fruity yet not overpoweringly sweet. Something that tastes of pure vanilla and a bright pop of citrusy olive oil. I love that.

So thus, the Grapefruit Upside Down Olive Oil Cake was born. A shoutout to Alaina and her olive oil cake with figs for reading my mind with that version and thus helping me put batter to pan. Everything just fell into place.

I carefully cut the rind off of a ripe grapefruit, cut the fruit into beautiful starburst rings, cut each ring in half, then placed them in a winding pattern around the bottom of my cake pan. Don’t beat yourself up too much with this one, because in all honesty, the perfection gets scooted and smooshed by cake batter. A bit of grace will keep you happy with this cake, start to finish. Ensuring the whole bottom of the cake pan was layered with jewel-toned grapefruit, I battered it up. In the best way possible.

The batter is thick. Almost dough-like. But I’ve scented it with a good glug of vanilla, a dusting of grapefruit zest, and a heavy hand of my favorite olive oil. Use something fruity, versus peppery. You’ll know it when you taste it. The batter is full of subtle flavors, making it cozy and bright. The subtle sweetness comes from a small dose of coconut sugar, nothing more.

I found that dolloping the batter around the pan carefully helped keep the grapefruit segments in place as much as possible. I dolloped until the batter was gone, then slowly and carefully spread it into an even layer, pressing down and working carefully to not slide the grapefruit under it. It was pretty successful, but yes, some segments were out of place in the end. {HINT: It still tastes the same!}

Then it all goes in the oven. Isn’t that wonderful? Seriously, you didn’t have to make a brown sugar caramel for the bottom or anything finicky like that. Just bake it and you’re done. When you flip the cake after it’s fully baked, and you pull back the parchment to reveal the grapefruit layer, your heart will soar!

Simplicity in its finest. The Grapefruit Upside Down Olive Oil Cake is done. It doesn’t need an icing or a dusting of anything. Though I would never object to a dollop of freshly whipped cream. But the beauty of this cake is the simplicity. You’ll want to cozy up with a slice and a hot cup of tea and catch up on this season of Homeland.

I don’t believe in food guilt and neither should you. But if you’re caught up in that nasty monster, I assure you this cake rates at best a 1 on the guilt scale. It’s gluten-free, minimally sweetened with a natural sugar, topped with a seasonal and healthy AF grapefruit…it’s practically breakfast. Ready for a second slice?

 

Let’s do it!

Grapefruit Upside Down Olive Oil Cake

By Melissa @ Treats With A Twist

Makes one 9” cake

Ingredients:
1 cup blanched almond flour
½ cup sweet white rice flour
½ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup millet flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. sea salt
½ cup coconut sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or whole)
6 Tbs fruity extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. grapefruit zest
1 large grapefruit

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9” cake round, cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom, then butter the top of the parchment after it is in the bottom of the cake pan.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and soda, coconut sugar and sea salt and whisk together. Then, add the eggs, yogurt, olive oil, vanilla and grapefruit zest and stir until the batter is completely mixed.
Carefully remove the rind and all of the white pith of the grapefruit with a sharp knife. Cut the grapefruit in thin slices (so they are round starbursts). I like to cut each circle in half then layer them concentrically in the bottom of the cake tin (on top of the buttered parchment). Lay them in a single layer, covering the whole bottom.
Dollop the cake batter carefully on top of your grapefruit slices, being careful not to push them around. Use a silicone spatula to smooth the batter into an even layer.
Bake the cake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown on top and a test stick comes out clean.
Let the cake cool for just a few minutes (no more than 5) and then use a towel or hot pads to carefully, flip the cake onto your serving dish. Carefully lift off the pan then peel back the parchment to reveal the grapefruit layer on top! Let the cake cool completely, cut and serve!

Notes:
This is one of those cakes that I love even more the next day! I just put the cake back in the cake pan (now the grapefruits are on top), wrap it with plastic wrap, then wait until the next morning. It’s great on day one and day 2!
Cake is good well-wrapped on the counter for 2 days or in the fridge for 4.
TO PRINT: I’m going old school for awhile. If you’d love to print this recipe (I know you would) then just copy and paste it into a blank document and print. Love ya! xoxo

If you LOVE grapefruit, you’ll want to give these overnight oats a shot!