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.
Theresa Jelliffe says
This sounds scrumptious — cannot wait to try it.
Elana says
Thanks Theresa!
JoAnna Pepe says
Hello, Elana,
I’ve made this recipe several times. I’ve taken to microwaving the oranges until soft, for approximately ten minutes on high. A word of caution, before microwaving, using a sharp knife, I pierce each orange once to avoid bursting. When the oranges are sufficiently soft I follow your recipe with a couple of exceptions. I line the bottom and sides of the springform pan with greased parchment paper. I also cover the pan with foil to keep the cake from burning. Bake time is 50 – 60 minutes. Foil is removed the last five minutes of baking. As always thank you for sharing your amazing recipes. And giving so much of yourself to all of your readers. You are a gem.
Elana says
Thanks JoAnna!
Erin says
Any idea what the net carbs are on this? I need to be careful as my husband is diabetic and that much honey plus the oranges might be too much sugar. Could you substitute swerve?
Elana says
Erin, For more on that go here:
https://elanaspantry.com/nutrition-information/
Have a lovely day!
Elana
Rin says
Just curious as to why you need to cook the oranges? Seems like most of the flavor will end up in the water.
Elana says
Rin, it softens them :-)
Ruth says
This is a Great Recipe. Everyone–every every one loves it.
I do quarter the oranges and remove seeds (cause can be butter.)
And I do add just a couple drops Almond Extract.
Any way you do it, it is a lovely lovely cake. (fun to see it was sent on my birthday)
Elana says
Ruth, thanks for letting me know that everyone loves this cake! Happy birthday :-)
Alla says
I was wondering if cooking the oranges in the InstantPot until soft would be the same as boiling them for 1.5 hours? Has anyone done this yet?
Elana says
Alla, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
Betsy says
Just used the instant pot to soften the oranges. I used the Pressure Cook setting for 10 minutes and followed with a natural release. Oranges were perfectly soft.
Elana says
Thanks Betsy!
Bobbie says
Can I use orange juice instead of boiling whole oranges? If so, how much juice?
Elana says
Bobbie, I haven’t tried that so not sure, but it sounds like a fail to me :-)
LynMac says
Have you or anyone else added fresh tumeric for a wonderful bounce of color? I’d hate for it to change the flavor, but the color should be fantastic!
Elana says
LynMac, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
Kadie says
Do you let the oranges cool before adding them to the processor with the other ingredients? Thank you!
Elana says
Kadie, no need to do that :-)
Missy says
Do you worry about the seeds in the oranges? Can they go in the food processor with the orange or do you have to cut the orange and take out the seeds? I’ve never used the entire orange so this is a new idea for me!
Elana says
Missy, no need to worry about that since we’re cooking the oranges for so long in this recipe :-)