Flourless Orange Cake Recipe
This flourless orange cake recipe is a delicate and moist gluten-free cake bursting with fantastic citrus flavor.
Orange Flourless Cake
Have you ever boiled oranges? I never had.
I’ve boiled their rinds and cut up orange slices for orange marmalade, but I’ve never boiled them whole.
At least, that was until I tried this gluten-free orange cake recipe.
As strange as it may seem to dump a whole orange with the rind on and everything into a pot of boiling water, just know that there’s a method to the madness.
If this recipe for flourless orange cake is any sort of proof of what boiled oranges taste like, then just know that they’re positively delightful.
Flourless Cake
One of the key parts to making a perfect flourless orange cake that has a light and delicate texture is to use almond meal.
Using almond meal, or almond flour, contributes to an incredibly tender crumb. Plus, it’s gluten-free friendly too!
The almond meal also adds a lovely almond fragrance and flavor, making every bite of this orange almond cake pure pleasure for your palate.
To ensure this cake ends up as airy and light as possible, be sure to sift the almond meal and granulated sugar before you mix them into the cake batter.
Orange Cake Recipe: Prepping Ahead
This flourless orange cake recipe requires a bit of advance planning. It’s not quite as simple and quick as something like my lemon ricotta recipe.
The reason for that is that you need to boil the oranges for this recipe for a couple of hours before you actually use them.
If you remember from my orange marmalade recipe, part of the trick to getting rid of the bitterness in oranges is to boil the rind.
It’s a trick I learned from Jacques Pepin, and while I don’t boil the entire orange for marmalade, I do for this recipe.
After the oranges have been boiled, they’re cut up into smaller chunks and tossed into a food processor, effectively puréed.
That’s why you can boil them whole and get away with it.
After that, the recipe is pretty simple to put together like most single layer cake recipes.
A combination of eggs, sugar, puréed boiled oranges, and almond meal make up this flourless orange cake. There is no oil and no butter.
How you may ask? Well, the ground almonds contain fat, which is enough to satisfy that part of the baking formula.
While I can’t call this flourless orange cake a healthy cake, per se, as it does have sugar in it, it’s at least healthier than a cake that would have used regular flour and any butter or oil, so there’s that!
Notes Before Baking:
- When making this cake, be sure to sift your almond meal and granulated sugar to get them as fine as possible. Doing this just helps guarantee the overall lightness and airiness of the cake.
- As strange as it sounds, you’re boiling the entire orange. Then, when you cut it up and add it to the food processor, you’re including all of its membrane, skin, seeds – all parts of the orange!
Orange Almond Flourless Cake
A light and delicate gluten-free orange cake made with almond meal and whole, fresh oranges.
Ingredients
- 2 medium oranges
- 6 eggs
- 265 g granulated sugar, note conversion below, sifted
- 250 g almond meal, note conversion below, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4-6 tbsp sliced almonds for sprinkling on top
- powdered sugar to dust on top, optional
- baking spray or softened butter for greasing pan
Instructions
- Place the oranges in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover the oranges. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Continue simmering for 2 hours. Then, drain the pot and let the oranges cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a small, sharp knife, carve out the stem/stalk from the oranges. Make the same kind of shallow, small carving on the opposite end of the oranges as well (the bottom of the oranges).
- Cut up the oranges (WITH the rind, seeds, membranes and all) into chunks and place in a food processor. Pulse until you've got a purée, and the only pieces of orange rind you see are the tiny specks; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs together until combined. Add in the orange purée and whisk. Add the vanilla and whisk again to mix. To the wet mixture, add the almond meal and baking powder. Mix until it's all combined well.
- Grease a 10 inch springform pan (or an equally deep pan) with baking spray (or softened butter). Pour the batter into your pan before sprinkling the top with sliced almonds. Bake the cake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, checking on the cake at the 1 hour mark. Poke a toothpick in the center to check for readiness; it should come out with little to no crumbs.
- Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes before lifting the edges of the springform pan off the cake. Let it cool to room temperature, then dust the top with powdered sugar.
Notes
If you have a scale, please use it for this recipe! If not, please note the following conversion:
260 grams of sugar = approx. 1 1/3 cups
250 grams of almond meal = approx. 2.6 cups or a scant 2 2/3 cups
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 10 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 457Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 115mgSodium: 102mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 6gSugar: 43gProtein: 13g
Hi Beeta. Saw this on Instagram to day.. My orange tree has really large navel oranges. Can you give a range of the quantity of puree to use? I don’t want to waste almond flour and have a wet cake.
Hi Sue! I’ve never measured the purée, but if your oranges are really large, I’d probably go for 1 1/2 oranges for this recipe. My oranges were medium (the same size as the ones pictured here in the blog post) and I used 2.
Can the oranges be cooked in a instant pot? If so for how long? Thanks
Hi Socorro! I’ve never done it, but I don’t see why not! I would cook the oranges for half the time in the Instant Pot on med or low pressure – so cook for about 60 min. 🙂
Hi Socorro, I did pressure cook my oranges in Instant pot. I did 2 oranges on high pressure for 5 mins. Let steam release naturally. I pressure cooked for 5 mins since I was worried that the oranges might break open.. If they are not cooked, you can add few more minutes.
I want to make this into a tiered cake with frosting. Is there a frosting you would recommend? I was thinking a cream cheese or sour cream frosting with a touch of orange might be good?
Hi Brielle! I think either of those work! I also think a Chantilly cream frosting would work really well too (it’s just sweetened whipped cream). 🙂
Can this recipe be made as cupcakes instead? If so, how long would they have to bake?
I’ve never done them as cupcakes, but if you tried, I would suggest baking at least 20 minutes as that’s usually how long cupcakes need. Then, just check from that point on using a toothpick..when it comes out clean, they’re ready!
20 minutes was perfect. I topped them with cream cheese frosting flavored with orange zest and sprinkled sliced almonds on top. They’re great!
Hello! This recipe sounds yummy!
I plan to make this but have few questions I would like to clarify
1. Can I substitute sugar with honey or coconut sugar or stevia? (i’m trying to go sugar free)
Thanks!
Hi Raji! The sugar plays an important role in a cake recipe like this by not just providing sweetness but structure as well. I would use a substitute like erythritol for a sugar-free effect. I think most people use it 1:1 as a substitute, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. Thanks!
Hi there!
Ok I am going to be honest. The first time I did this, it was a diaster cake.. hahaha.. I used cara cara oranges and when they were done boiling they smelled weird. Also, the cake was like mousse.
I’m planning on trying this again, any suggestion on the amount of orange puree I should be using so as to ensure the cake isn’t paste-y? Much appreciate your baking tips.
PS. I’m a novice baker hence these silly questions.
Thanks!
Hi Raji! Thanks so much for your comment. Happy to help! 🙂 I’m not sure why the oranges smelled weird. They do carry a scent after boiling, but nothing too odd. It may just be that particular pair of oranges? In general, this cake is very very moist because it utilizes the whole oranges. That said, you can adjust the moisture in the cake by either a) using smaller oranges (each would weigh closer to 125 grams per orange) or b) if utilizing medium size oranges, just use 3/4 of the purée that’s produced from the puréed oranges.
Cara-cara are smaller than most oranges, aren’t they? Maybe they should have a shorter boiling time?
Hi Sharon! It’s more a matter of how thick the skin of an orange is rather than its size. The two hour recommendation is good because it will usually work for even the most thick-skinned oranges like Navel and sometimes its equally thick variant Cara Cara. The boiling helps ensure that you get rid of much of the bitterness of the orange skin and pith in addition to helping soften up the skin so that you can pulverize it nicely in the blender/food processor. If you were pressed for time, I would recommend using a pressure cooker rather than shortening the boiling time. 🙂
I used coconut sugar and it was very good.
I’ve made this recipe a few times now. I add a teaspoon of orange extract to really pop up the orange flavor. I’ve also used both husked and de-husked almond floor. The de-husked almond flour makes for a bit lighter cake and one that looks more elegant. It’s been a big hit each time I make it. You can speed up the cooling of the oranges by putting them in the fridge before pureeing. I break them apart (carefully as they are very hot) first before putting them in the fridge.
Thanks so much for the tips and feedback, Julie! I’m so glad you are enjoying this recipe <3
Hello, would you recommend, after boiling the oranges and pureeing, storing it in the fridge for later use, say, a day? And should it be stored in the fridge, or can the puree be kept at room temp?
Diana – I freeze the purée for later use or store for short term under refrigeration but bring to room temperature before mixing the batter!
Christiane
I made this cake with 1 pound of Meyer lemons and added 1 tablespoon of orange water. I also separated the eggs, mixing all ingediance with the yolks and beating the whites with 1/4 teaspoons cream tartar folding on the yolk mixture. This created a lighter cake. Also the lemons need only 25-30 minutes cooking and I skewers one hole in each end before cooking!