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.
Margaret Dunkle says
I baked this cake today. I weighed the orange to be exact. The cake never got done. I put it back in the oven for an extra half hour and it is like pudding.
Elana says
Margaret, that usually happens when one of the recommended brands of almond flour is not used. For more on that go here:
https://elanaspantry.com/almond-flour-ingredient/
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Elana
Jackie coon says
Right now I cannot have almond flour or honey. Would this recipe work with coconut flour & stevia? Any suggestions on amounts to use?
Elana says
Jackie, I haven’t tried that so not sure. I test each recipe around 20x to get it right and am not at all good at guessing what works. Here’s some info for you if you decide to experiment:
https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-baking/
Enjoy!
Elana
Lorraine says
Elana, would there be any reason I should not attempt the boiling of the oranges in the Instant Pot. I think if I did that I could “kill 2 birds with 1 stone” so to speak. I could do the orange part faster and I could help neutralize the aroma in my Instant Pot. Please let me know your thoughts. If we think it will be ok, I’ll let you know what happens and how long I put it in the pot for.
Elana says
Lorraine, that’s an interesting idea and I think it’s worth a try. I hope you stop back by and share your results if you do this experiment!!!
Etin says
First time baking ever and this was so easy to do and everyone liked it. Thank you
Elana says
Etin, thanks for letting me know this recipe is easy and that everyone liked it :-)
Margherita says
Hi Elana,
Thanks so much for this Paleo Orange cake! It was delicious. I’ve already made it twice . I would like to know if you can freeze this cake?
Elana says
Magherita, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
N says
I have froze it pre sliced, so I just grab it, thaw it and munch! and I do like it a bit on the colder side too!
N
Elana says
Thanks N!
Martha says
Hi Elana, I’ve just made this cake and is delightful, I love it! I want to know if I can freeze it and for how long. Thanks for the recipe.
Elana says
Martha, I haven’t tried that so not sure. So happy to hear you love this cake :-)
Patricia Mirza says
Elana – this is so delicious! I brought it to a potluck the other day and people want the recipe! I always make sure to give you credit since you created it! I’m going to try it with lemons some day and I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for your wonderful work with almond flour! Pat
Elana says
Patricia, thanks so much for letting me know that you and yours are enjoying this recipe!
Margie says
Elana,
Do you pulse ingredients (eggs, honey, flour,etc) one ingredient at a time or add all st once and then pulse?
Elana says
Margie, after the oranges, it’s all at once :-)
Dolores Beccar says
OMG!! I baked this cake over the weekend and I love it!! super moist, sweet, light, citrusy… Absolutely delicious… THANK YOU Elana!
Dolores Beccar says
one more thing, because I had two big oranges and weighted more that it was indicated in the recipe, I replaced one orange for a mandarin (it was smaller) the mix of both flavors (very close but not the same) result in a super good cake… Instantly became a staple in this house!
Elana says
Dolores, thanks for another sweet comment and for letting me know this cake is a staple in your house!
Elana says
Dolores, thanks for letting me know this cake is OMG delicious!
Elizabeth says
Hi Elana~
I just made this delightful cake. It really turned out beautifully. I do have a question, though. While you provided a weight for the oranges, I am wondering if you have an ideal measurement in cups for the quantity of blended orange ‘smoothie’ that is created before adding the other ingredients. If so, thanks for sharing! ~beth
Elana says
Elizabeth, thanks for your comment and for letting me know this cake is delightful! I haven’t measured that as weight is far more accurate so no need :-)