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 – wondering if you have a measurement for the pureed oranges – 1 cup, 1.5 cups? Had one medium and two smaller oranges and boiled all three, so have more puree than I need.
Thanks,
Anne
Hi Anne! I usually use medium navel oranges, and 2 of them would typically add up to about 265-285 grams. In your case, I would probably aim for 3/4 of the purée that you have. 🙂
I can’t wait to make this cake I love the combination of flavors
I only have a 8×8 Pyrex would that work to bake it in Also would I adjust the baking time
Thank You
Thank You
Hi Eileen! Yes, I think that size would work! Glass tends to bake a little faster so I would check on your cake at least 15 minutes sooner, and then keep checking until it’s ready (springs back to the touch, toothpick is clean). 🙂
Hi from Guatemala. First time using almond flour and baking a gluten free cake. Fantastic flavor, very moist and the smell or oranges is all around the house. I used the crock pot to cook the oranges and saved the water for later use.
This is a recipe I will keep and do it again.
Fantastic, Christine! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment! 🙂
This was first time using almond flour so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I followed the directions exactly and the cake came out wonderfully moist, light and flavorful! I will definitely make this again!!
Fantastic, Leslie! I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake! Thanks for sharing your kind feedback <3
DO NOT DISCARD THE WATER USED FOR BOILING THE ORANGES!!!
I used this water to make the most divine orange simple syrup. 10/10 would recommend to use this water and not let it go to waste.
As for the cake, the flavor is really good! I boiled one orange and two clementines. I pulled the cake out when the center reached 217 degrees Fahrenheit (which is already a little high), and the center was still very very moist.
Great idea for the simple syrup, Cindy! Thanks for the comment! 🙂
Could a mix of lemons and oranges be used?
Hi Maggie, I haven’t personally tried that but I would be careful doing that as lemons are even more bitter than oranges and are not sweet. The sugar ratio would need to be adjusted.
Do you think this recipe would work in small muffin cup size ? I wanted to have a bite size version. Thanks, looks yummy!!
Hi Lynne! I don’t see why not! I would highly recommend using cupcake liners though as this is a very moist cake. You will also need to adjust the bake time. I would check on them at the 20 minute mark as that’s usually my starting point for cupcakes. Since these are more on the moist side though, it will probably take longer.
Hi Beeta,
I am on keto. Can I use different kind of sugar?
Thank you,
Azam
Hi Azam, I’m not well-versed in keto baking and substituting sugar can be a bit tricky in cake recipes. That said, I have heard many people on keto use erythritol as a substitute for white sugar when they are baking. Erythritol is not quite as sweet as table sugar, however, so you may need to adjust how much you add. A quick google search reveals that many substitute it with a ratio of 1 1/3 cups erythritol to 1 cup sugar. Again, I have not tested this myself and cannot definitively say how it will turn out so I would research that a little more if you are wanting to do any substitutions for the keto diet. 🙂