Citrus fruits, apples, pears, chocolate… Long live winter cakes!
To boost your morale and broaden the range of possibilities, zoom in on citrus fruits to use in seasonal cakes. Whether cooked in slices, juice, zest, mixed into puree, or even cut into pieces, oranges, clementines, lemons or even grapefruits are popular this season. Colorful and tangy, they are the vitamin touch at the end of our meals.
Other star products for cold days: apples and pears. Available in compote, poached, taken whole in cake batter, cut into strips, cubes or even quarters, the stars of autumn continue to seduce in winter. Their strong point? Their incomparable sweetness and ease of use. Detailed with their skin when they are of organic origin and free of their seeds, these products do not need more to be enjoyed. Thanks to their strong sweet taste, these also help reduce the weight of sugar. Indeed, fruits, whether grated, stewed, or even roasted, bring a lot of sweetness to the cake, so it is sometimes good to balance everything by reducing the weight of sugar.
How to adjust the sugar dosage of a cake?
Whether it’s a winter cake or not, it doesn’t matter, you always have to balance your doses to avoid having an overall sweet or even sickening result.
For example, if we favor citrus fruits in winter, sugar is important since it moderates their power and acidity.
If you use apples and pears, which are sweeter, you can reduce the weight.
But then what is the right amount of sugar in a dessert? It all depends on your taste and palate. If you are used to de-sweetening everything, in this case a barely sweetened cake will suit you. If, on the contrary, you love it when the sweet taste is very present, a less sweet cake will also seem less delicious to you.
Reducing the sugar in a cake is a good idea in baking, but going from one extreme to the other — a lot of sugar versus none at all — can be surprising when tasting. Better to reduce gradually and educate your palate little by little.
To follow, 21 recipes to adopt to brighten up the winter.
Vegan orange cake
© Sophie François-Mulhens
- 8 people
- Level: Easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Vegan orange cake
Portokalópita

© Delphine Constantini
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 25 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Portokalópita
Gluten-free banana bread

© Sophie François-Mulhens
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 10 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Gluten-free banana bread
Mandarin and polenta upside down cake

© Akiko Ida
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Mandarin and polenta upside down cake
Apple cake cooked in a casserole dish

© Valéry Guedes
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Apple cake cooked in a casserole dish
Ricotta and lemon cake

© Nathalie Carnet
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 10 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Ricotta and lemon cake
Pineapple Upside Down Cake

© Valéry Guedes
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 30 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Spiced Apple and Pear Cake

© Christophe Roué
- 8 people
- Level: Easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Spicy apple and pear cake
Hazelnut cake

© Danièle Gerkens
- 4 people
- Level: Very easy
- 10 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Hazelnut cake
Apple-pear upside-down cake with pumpkin seeds and sesame

© Marjolaine Daguerre
- 8 people
- Level: Easy
- 25 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Apple-pear upside-down cake with pumpkin seeds and sesame
Bergamot cake, basmati rice and mango

© Virginie Garnier
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Bergamot cake, basmati rice and mango
Orange cake, dark chocolate icing

© Akiko Ida
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 10 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Orange cake, dark chocolate icing
Vegan Spiced Apple Cake

© Rebecca Genet
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Spiced Vegan Apple Cake
Upside-down cake with clementines and semolina

© Marie-Pierre Morel
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Upside-down cake with clementines and semolina
Lemon Meringue Cloud Cake

© Aline Princet / Hachette Cuisine
- 8 people
- Level: Easy
- 25 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Lemon Meringue Cloud Cake
Orange Upside Down Cake

© Virginie Garnier
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 25 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Orange Upside Down Cake
Banana, walnut and persimmon cake

© Akiko Ida
- 8 people
- Level: Very easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Banana, walnut and persimmon cake
Orange clementine cake

© Louis Laurent Grandadam
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Orange clementine cake
White bean cake, lemon, and Greek sheep’s yogurt

© Valéry Guedes
- 4 people
- Level: Very easy
- 30 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: White bean cake, lemon, and Greek sheep’s yogurt
Magical cake like lemon meringue pie

© Valéry Guedes
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Magical cake like lemon meringue pie
Simple pear and clementine cake

© Danièle Gerkens
- 4 people
- Level: Very easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Simple pear and clementine cake
Vegan orange cake

© Sophie François-Mulhens
- 8 people
- Level: Easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Vegan orange cake
Portokalópita

© Delphine Constantini
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 25 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Portokalópita
Gluten-free banana bread

© Sophie François-Mulhens
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 10 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Gluten-free banana bread
Mandarin and polenta upside down cake

© Akiko Ida
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Mandarin and polenta upside down cake
Apple cake cooked in a casserole dish

© Valéry Guedes
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Apple cake cooked in a casserole dish
Ricotta and lemon cake

© Nathalie Carnet
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 10 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Ricotta and lemon cake
Pineapple Upside Down Cake

© Valéry Guedes
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 30 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Spiced Apple and Pear Cake

© Christophe Roué
- 8 people
- Level: Easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Spicy apple and pear cake
Hazelnut cake

© Danièle Gerkens
- 4 people
- Level: Very easy
- 10 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Hazelnut cake
Apple-pear upside-down cake with pumpkin seeds and sesame

© Marjolaine Daguerre
- 8 people
- Level: Easy
- 25 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Apple-pear upside-down cake with pumpkin seeds and sesame
Bergamot cake, basmati rice and mango

© Virginie Garnier
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Bergamot cake, basmati rice and mango
Orange cake, dark chocolate icing

© Akiko Ida
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 10 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Orange cake, dark chocolate icing
Vegan Spiced Apple Cake

© Rebecca Genet
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Spiced Vegan Apple Cake
Upside-down cake with clementines and semolina

© Marie-Pierre Morel
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Upside-down cake with clementines and semolina
Lemon Meringue Cloud Cake

© Aline Princet / Hachette Cuisine
- 8 people
- Level: Easy
- 25 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Lemon Meringue Cloud Cake
Orange Upside Down Cake

© Virginie Garnier
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 25 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Orange Upside Down Cake
Banana, walnut and persimmon cake

© Akiko Ida
- 8 people
- Level: Very easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Banana, walnut and persimmon cake
Orange clementine cake

© Louis Laurent Grandadam
- 6 people
- Level: Very easy
- 15 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Orange clementine cake
White bean cake, lemon, and Greek sheep’s yogurt

© Valéry Guedes
- 4 people
- Level: Very easy
- 30 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: White bean cake, lemon, and Greek sheep’s yogurt
Magical cake like lemon meringue pie

© Valéry Guedes
- 6 people
- Level: Easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Magical cake like lemon meringue pie
Simple pear and clementine cake

© Danièle Gerkens
- 4 people
- Level: Very easy
- 20 minutes of preparation
- Cheap
- See the recipe: Simple pear and clementine cake