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
Can I make this with regular flour? (Granddaughter is allergic to nuts)
Hi Sandy! I’ve never made this with all-purpose flour so I wouldn’t be able to say whether this is OK for this recipe and what the resulting cake texture would be like. While AP flour and almond flour are often interchangeable with a 1:1 ratio, I will say that almond flour sometimes needs more eggs as a binding agent, so that is something that may need to be altered as well.
It’s a lovely cake and even though it was nicely brown on the the sides it came out really dense and stodgy, like it may have been undercooked. I used almond flour instead of almond meal. Could this be a reason? I’m new to GF baking so this may be a characteristic of baking with almond flour. I’d like to try it again, hoping it comes out lighter and fluffier.
Hi Susan! Some brands of almond flour can be a little different, but I would recommend two changes next time you try this cake: 1) Use almond meal for extra reassurance (it’s coarser than almond flour), and 2) Use smaller oranges. I’m not sure what size oranges you used, but use smaller navel oranges so that you have less juice (i.e. less liquid in the recipe). All that said, I will say this cake is incredibly moist and never going to be as fluffy as a classic yellow cake or whatnot. But it shouldn’t look undercooked, so if that’s the case, I would try the tips mentioned here. 🙂
I’m looking forward to trying your recipe. I like that you use weight for measurements for most of the ingredients. With that, I only have large oranges from my tree. How much of the orange puree should I use?
I usually use medium navel oranges, and 2 of them would typically add up to about 265-285 grams total. 🙂
Is it normal for the orange pulp/paste to taste bitter before mixing and cooking ?
Hi Sereen! Yes the mixture will still taste bitter but that bitterness should mellow out as it’s baked and mixed with the sugar in the cake. 🙂
What a genius Idea, with the whole boiled oranges!!! I changed the reg. white sugar to 130 g white sugar and added 50 g of Monk sweetener and I whisked the egg white (to an foam) and lifted on the end under the dough, baked it in a muffin form (21 muffins)! And every of my husband golfer team, just loved this lovely Orange Almond Muffin. Thank you for the whole boiled Orange idea!
Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that your husband and his team enjoyed these! 🙂 Thanks for coming back to leave a comment!
I am diabetic but wanted to try this cake recipe as Orange cake is my VERY favorite cake. I used my diabetic sweetener mix; THE RECIPE FOR THE SWEETENER IS FROM Joy Filled Eats dot com (no after taste and I measure it just like regular sugar) YOUR CAKE WAS ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!!!!!! I WILL BE MAKING THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN!! THANK YOU SO MUCH. (i made it for my birthday cake to serve to family and all LOVED IT!)
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Vickie! Thanks for sharing your diabetic-friendly tip! I’ll have to try that out for one of my relatives <3
Hi,
Do we need to boil the oranges with the rind.
Hi Charu, yes you do.
Easy recipe and no need to fuss. I made it yesterday as written and it came out beautifully! Next time, I’ll add orange flour water as a subtle backdrop to the orange flavor. But that’s some wonderful cake! Perfect for guests, breakfasts, elegant enough for a shower or party!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment. 🙂