This Gluten Free Orange Almond Flour Cake recipe, made with six healthy ingredients, is one of our favorite gluten free desserts.
Gluten Free Orange Almond Flour Cake
Every time I serve it people are shocked to find out my Orange Almond Flour Cake is made with whole oranges, peel, and all.
Almond Flour Recipes
Using the whole orange adds an incredible flavor dimension to this gluten free cake, as well as healthy bioflavonoids.
This is one of my nutritious almond flour recipes that you don’t want to miss out on.
Gluten Free Cake
Wondering how to make Orange Almond Flour Cake from scratch? All you need is whole oranges, almond flour, eggs, honey, salt, and baking soda. –that’s it!
People tell me it’s the best recipe for gluten free cake they’ve ever had!
Gluten Free Orange Almond Flour Cake
Ingredients
- 2 small oranges, 6.5 ounces each
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup honey
- 2 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Wash the oranges and boil them whole (peel and all) for 1½ hours, or until soft
- Place whole oranges (peel and all) in a food processor and blend until smooth
- Pulse in eggs, honey, almond flour, salt, and baking soda until well combined
- Pour batter into a greased 9 inch springform pan
- Bake at 375°F for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean
- Cool in the pan for 2 hours
- Serve
Orange Cake Recipe
This easy orange cake recipe is the perfect dessert for holidays such as:
But we love it so much we make this cake all year long! My holiday guests rave about this healthy gluten free recipe.
Orange Cake
If you’ve never had orange cake you’re in for a treat.
I first came upon an orange almond cake recipe in the 1990s in one of Claudia Roden’s cookbooks, The Book of Jewish Food.
Roden is a British cookbook author, food scholar, and cultural anthropologist. She is also one of my heroes.
According to Roden, orange almond cake is a traditional Sephardic recipe commonly served at Passover.
Gluten Free Passover Dessert Recipes
This Gluten Free Orange Almond Flour Cake is perfect for Passover because it does not contain chametz.
As an aside, all of my dessert recipes are Kosher for Passover since they are free of chametz!
Whole Orange Cake Recipe
It seems weird to make a cake with whole oranges.
However, using the orange with its peel is what makes my orange cake with almond flour moist and totally unique.
Yes, as I mentioned, use the entire orange, including the peel! Make sure your oranges are fresh and sweet so the cake is fresh and flavorful.
Make Ahead Almond Flour Cake Recipes
You can make this cake recipe ahead of time, that’s what I do when we’re entertaining.
If I’m having people over for Shabbat dinner, I make the cake Wednesday, let it cool on the counter overnight, then wrap it and store it in the fridge until Friday.
Cuisinart Food Processor
You know I love getting into the kitchen to test recipes for you and enjoy sharing my favorite kitchen tools, including this food processor.
This one is not only affordable, it gets the job done quickly and easily.
Gluten Free Dairy Free Desserts
Using a good food processor blends this cake batter to perfection, making it incredibly smooth.
Still, it’s amazing this cake is so rich and melt in your mouth delicious, given the lack of butter and flour. This is a fantastic gluten free, dairy free dessert.
Chocolate Orange Cake
I’ve always wanted to smother this orange cake in my Chocolate Dairy Free Frosting recipe.
As a kid, I loved chocolate-covered orange peel, and couldn’t get enough of that flavor combo. I haven’t tried it here yet, but I imagine it would be incredible.
Almond Flour Lemon Cake
This paleo cake recipe would be incredible with lemons, though many adjustments would need to be made since lemons are smaller than oranges, not as sweet, and far more bitter.
I tested this orange cake recipe a couple of dozen times to perfect it so I’m not sure how substitutions would work in order to create a recipe for lemon cake.
I wish I had a crystal ball, it would make the process so much easier! If you do experiment with lemons leave a comment and let us know if it works.
Gluten Free Desserts
Thankfully, you really don’t need to experiment with anything, given that I have hundreds of easy recipes for gluten free desserts here on the website and in my three cookbooks!
Gluten Free Orange Cake
But back to my orange cake recipe, which has been shared over ten thousand times on social media –it’s a real deal hit!
When I serve it, everyone loves it –those with diet restrictions as well as folks who can eat anything they want.
Almond Flour Cake
My cakes with almond flour are so popular because they’re rich, dense, and full of flavor.
Almond Flour Baking
Another benefit of almond flour baking is that it’s low carb and healthy.
I love using almond flour rather than the usual high carb wheat flour, the main ingredient in most cakes.
Gluten Free Dessert Recipes
All of the easy gluten free recipes for desserts below are also dairy free cakes.
Gluten Free Coffee Cake
My homemade Gluten Free Coffee Cake is one of my favorite comfort foods. It’s also one of my most popular recipes, with over forty thousand shares on social media.
Made with a base of almond flour, plus five other ingredients, you can throw this low carb coffee cake together in no time.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake
This lightly sweetened nut free Carrot Cake recipe from scratch will blow your mind.
This is one of my favorite cakes made without almond flour.
It’s a nut free cake everyone can enjoy. If you’re allergic to nuts, be sure to check out my Nut Free Recipes page.
Gluten Free Birthday Cake
If you’re looking for a cake that’s chocolate, this family favorite Gluten Free Birthday Cake is a clear winner.
I made this easy cake recipe often when the boys were growing up. Soon they took over and made it for my birthday!
Prefer vanilla birthday cake? Check out my fan favorite Gluten Free Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
Both of these gluten free cakes are nut free and made with a base of coconut flour.
Healthy Cake Recipes
I hope you love these healthy cake recipes as much as we do and that you enjoy all of my gluten free recipes!
Which of these cake recipes will you bake?
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives. I first shared this Gluten Free Orange Almond Flour Cake in November 2008.
Maureen says
Yummy! Made with 2 large and 2 small eggs, added 1 t. vanilla and 1/2 c. honey. Made in a square 9 inch pan – took 40 minutes. Will definitely make again!
Elana says
Thanks Maureen!
Abbe S says
HI,
I am a loyal follower of you fantastic site and recipes. Please tell me what brand of almond flour you use. I typically use almond meal from Trader Joe’s. thank you for your reply and for sharing your creativity, suggestions, and stories.
Elana says
Abbe, if you click the green text in the ingredients portion of the recipe you will be given that info :-)
Abby says
Thank you for this, Elana! Very delicious! Made it today for a pre-4th of July family get together and everyone loved it! Even “most” of the little kids. ;) I made the following changes: 1 medium orange instead of 2. And about 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. of honey instead of 3/4 cup. It cooked in about 35 minutes. I also made a chocolate frosting to put on it after it cooled. (1/4 cup coconut oil. 1/8 cup cocoa powder. 1 tablespoon honey) Then I stored it in the fridge for a few hours for the coconut oil to solidify. Served with vanilla ice cream. Yum!
Elana says
You’re welcome Abby!
Claire says
This recipe both intrigued and concerned me. Two oranges could weigh half a pound or two pounds! I saw Elana’s comment that they would weigh in at about 1.25 pounds so that is how much I put in. Brought it for Easter dinner. One of the guests is grain free so I always bake with her in mind. My cake turned a little brown (too brown) on the sides… Other than that was lovely. Moist, yes. Orangey, yes. I served w Elana’s whipped coconut creme from her paleo book. Will make over and over again. Would it help to turn down the oven?
Claire says
I used a nine inch springform pan, bottom lined w parchment paper and greased. No problems!
Elana says
Hi Claire, thanks for your comment. You may want to take the cake out a little earlier :-)
Danielle Devine says
I am embarrassed to say that I have literally made this recipe exactly as listed, 6 times in two weeks and each time it came out perfectly. It leaves my guests swooning and is a hit everywhere I bring it. At Yesterday’s Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck it was a grand success and it will be the dessert on my Passover Seder table later in April. Thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe!
Elana says
Hi Danielle, I’m so glad to hear you and your guests are swooning over this cake :-)
Brenda Hardiman says
I made this for the 1st time and used fresh picked kumquats and orange. The combo with honey is fantastic. I’ve been following your recipes for a while. Thanks!
Elana says
Brenda, so glad to hear that this is fantastic! Thanks for your comment!
Lisa says
I made this twice now in the past week after not having made it since my first attempt a while back.
I made the following changes –
3 eggs
2/4 maple syrup + 1/4 honey
It’s moist but not soggy and I prefer the sweetness. Plus maple syrup is fodmap friendly.
Delish
Elana says
Hi Lisa, so glad you like the cake :-)
HBA says
I followed this recipe exactly, using two organic medium oranges. It stuck to the pan when I removed it two hours after baking it as the recipe stated. Also, it was so moist I would describe it as wet. I loved the taste of it! I will make it again and try adding 1/3 cup of coconut flour. Also, I will line the pan with parchment paper and grease the paper. In the meantime, I am going to cover my cake with a vegan chocolate ganache to hide the breaks in the cake that resulted when I turned it out of the pan.
Elana says
Hi HBA, perhaps next time you make it use oranges that are not quite as big as the ones you used this time. Please let me know how it goes and I hope you enjoy the cake!
iffy says
Hi I would love to know how this turned out with coconut flour. We’re allergic to almonds at our house and I want to try this recipe with coconut flour.
Elana says
Iffy, Unfortunately, almond flour and coconut flour are not interchangeable. Here’s a link to my Nut-Free Recipes page for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/nut-free/
And here’s a link to my Coconut Flour Recipes page:
https://elanaspantry.com/ingredients/coconut-flour/
Enjoy!
Elana
Cindy Hetman says
I was thrilled to NOT ser coconut as I am allergic! Cake in oven as I type!
Elana says
Thanks Cindy!
Julie says
I wanted to make this recipe as is, but didn’t have all ingredients. Subbed 1 cup fresh pulverized pineapple for oranges, Trader Joe’s Almond Meal for Almond flour, Steen’s Cane Syrup for agave/honey, and added 1 T. coconut flour (it seemed too watery). I oiled and baked in nonstick bundt pan for 40 mins. It’s came out great – a real treat! Only problem was it stuck to the pan. So next time, I really want to try the ‘real’ recipe and will line a cake pan with parchment paper. Thanks for a wonderful recipe base!
Elana says
Thanks Julie! I’m so happy to hear this was wonderful :-)
Pam says
I made this cake into a firetruck for a Fireman Sam birthday party. I’ve posted photos on my website http://castironveggies.com/a-desert-birthday/ Normally when I make this cake (and we make it often) I use chocolate frosting. However, my daughter did not want a brown firetruck, she wanted a red one, then a yellow one, then at the last minute a pink one. This was so good with coconut frosting. All the kids (and grown ups) loved it. If you haven’t made this yet, I highly recommend it.
Elana says
Pam, that’s adorable!