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.
Faith says
Does this require 2 oranges totaling 13 oz., or will 1 13 oz orange work? This seems to be the only option in my local grocery.
Elana says
Faith, I haven’t tried that so not sure. If you do experiment LMK if it works :-)
Nicole says
This recipe is so easy and the cake is so delicious. I add stevia sweetened Lilly’s dark chocolate chips. I’ve also made it with blood oranges and the flavor is amazing
Elana says
Nicole, thanks for letting me know this recipe is easy and the cake is so delicious!
Barbara Jo Dunbar says
Excellent! Very tasty! I am sitting here enjoying a slice with my morning coffee. I am eating it cold, out of the fridge, and it tastes so good cold.
Elana, I first heard of you years ago from a “Know the Cause“ cookbook (Doug Kaufmann.) They shared your website with all of your possibilities to eat grain free and sugar free. The first recipe I made was “Almond Bread.” The second thing I made was your “Pecan Shortbread Cookies.” These two recipes are staples in my home… also great for gifts. I will be adding your “Orange Cake” to my list.
Your website is very helpful and informative, along with your story. Thank you for sharing all that you do. I share your website with so many people. You are a treasure. ❤️
Elana says
Barbara, thanks so much for your wonderful words! So glad we’re on this healing path together :-)
Faith says
Elana, as a newbie to the SCD plan, I am loving your recipes. They have convinced me that there is plenty of delicious food to be had despite what I have had to give up. I do, however, have one question about blanched (minus the hull) almond flour vs “regular” (includes the hull). When stocking up (OK, hoarding) at the outset of the pandemic, and new to the plan, I blindly purchased both kinds, using up the regular first. The muffins and cakes turned out fine. But when I started using the blanched, the batter was so thick and lumpy it resembled a lumpy dough and was unusable. This has happened every time I have used the blanched flour despite having followed the recipe assiduously. The brand is Kirklands. Any instruction you can provide me about this would be most appreciated!
Elana says
Faith, that is the goal of my work! To help people find that there is an abundance of delicious food even when faced with food restrictions. Here is more info on the brands of almond flour that work in my recipes:
https://elanaspantry.com/almond-flour-ingredient/
Enjoy!
Elana
Gail says
When using the Kirkland, I mix all the dry ingredients together first and that helps avoid the lumps.
Elana says
Thanks Gail!
Colleen says
Hi, Elana! Love your recipes. :) Quick clarification on this recipe, two 6.5 ounce oranges, so 13 ounces total? Thanks!
Elana says
Colleen, yes two small oranges that total 13 ounces :-)
Colleen says
Thank you!
Donna says
Can you tell me what boiling the oranges does for the recipe? I think you’d lose a lot of the nutrition from the peel that way, and wonder why it’s necessary.
Elana says
Donna, thanks for your comment! Feel free to experiment and use raw oranges in the recipe –just let me know if it works! I imagine without boiling them they’d be pretty tough and wouldn’t blend into the batter.
T says
Is there liquid after boiling the oranges, and if so does that get added to the blended oranhes? This looks great and am.looking forward to grying ot out. Thank you
Elana says
T, the liquid is not called for in this recipe :-)
cv says
Made this morning and replaced with an orange and a half AND a small Meyer lemon. Turned out very well– a little zingier!
Elana says
Thanks cv!
gi says
Do you remove seeds before blending?
Elana says
gi, nope :-)
Tina Dobbs says
Made this with blood oranges. Delicious! Looks more like a gingerbread because if the darker flesh, but SO good! Moist, and lots if orange flavor. Next time, I’ll try making cupcakes so it is easier to freeze.
Elana says
Tina, what a fantastic idea!