This Dairy Free, Flourless Orange Cake with Almonds is the most delicious, light and moist gluten free cake. Made from scratch with fresh ingredients, it is the perfect Passover Cake recipe… or simply a great flourless cake to enjoy every day of the year!
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Gluten Free Orange Cake
This Gluten Free Orange Cake with Almond Meal is probably one of the easiest on the blog. Most of the recipes for and almond orange cake requires you to boil your oranges for a few hours before blending them into the cake batter… nothing like this here!
I simply used the Orange Juice to make a really quick, easy and fresh cake batter. Made with a few ingredients only, this cake will be ready to be baked in about 10 minutes!
What is flourless cake made of?
A Flourless Cake can be made from many different (or a combination of) ingredients that are used to replace Wheat Flour.
Whipped Egg Whites, Naturally Gluten-Free Flours and/or Almond Meal – like here – are great ingredients to use to create light and fluffy cakes without wheat flour.
Flourless Orange Cake Ingredients
Best thing about this cake: it really only requires a handful of ingredients! Nothing fancy or hard to find here… if you love to bake and love to use almond meal, you already should have it all in the pantry!
- Eggs
- Brown Sugar
- Orange Juice
- Canola Oil (or any other unflavoured vegetable oil that can be baked)
- Almond Meal
- Cornstarch
Is almond flour the same as ground almonds?
Basically yes – although the coarseness of the nut will vary. Almond Flour usually refers to very thinly ground almonds that resemble the texture of a flour. Almond Meal, or Ground Almonds are simply crushed less than almond flour, creating a more coarse meal.
Is almond flour good for baking cakes?
Almond Flour – or in this cake Almond Meal – is absolutely awesome for baking cake. Especially Gluten-Free ones! Almond Meal is seriously one of my favourite (and most used) baking ingredient ever.
Almond Meal does not only bring a delicious nutty flavour to your baked goods, it also provides a super moist texture to them. This ingredient is really what makes this Flourless Orange Cake so light, fluffy and moist. Delicious!
How to make this Gluten-Free Almond Cake with Oranges
There are four steps to make this Orange and Almond Cake. And what I love about it is that boiling oranges for 2 hours is not one of them! A
lthough most recipes require you to boil full oranges, then blend them through the cake batter, this recipe only uses the juice of the orange.
So much quicker and easier, without compromising on the taste!
Here are the steps to make this Almond and Orange Cake:
- Seperate the Egg Whites and Egg Yolks
- Whisk the Egg Yolks with the Sugar. Add the liquid ingredients (Oil and Orange Juice), then the dry ingredients (Almond Meal and Cornstarch)
- Whip the Egg Whites into stiff peaks
- Gently fold in the Egg Whites into the cake batter
Pretty straight forward, isn’t it? Not only the almond meal will bring a delicious moisture to the cake, the whipped egg whites will also make it super light and airy.
Note that for this recipe, I used Almond Meal and not Almond Flour. Almond Meal is basically coarsely ground raw almonds, which brings a great texture to the cake. I find that Almond Flour is often ground too thinly and looses that delicious almond crunch.
Orange Syrup to top the Orange and Almond Cake
The Orange Syrup is a big part of this recipe. It brings a delicious tangy flavour to the orange gluten-free cake, as well as a great shine! To make the Orange Syrup, you will need:
- the juice of 1 orange
- a little bit or lemon juice (this is optional, but it helps to bring out the orange flavour)
- some Brown Sugar
Simply place these 3 ingredients in a small pot and leave to simmer and reduce until slightly sticky. Then, brush all over the cake once it has cooled down.
You can also make small holes on the cake with the tip of the knife before pouring over the syrup. That is a great way to get the syrup all the way inside the cake!
How to make Candied Orange Peels to finish this Orange Almond Cake
Making Candied Orange Peels is way more simple that it seems. Whether you want to make candied oranges slices like in my Orange Glazed Spiced Honey Cake or simple candied peels like here, the process is basically the same.
- First, use a vegetable peeler to get the orange peels. Try to leave as much of the white skin as possible, as it is the most bitter part of the fruit. Thinly chop the peels into long strips.
- Boil the orange peels a couple of times, draining them well under cold water between each time, to remove all the bitterness.
- Add the orange juice (you can also add some orange flesh to make more of a marmalade), sugar and spices and leave to reduce until most of the liquid has evaporated.
More Gluten Free Recipes Ideas:
- Gluten Free Strawberry Almond Cake
- Vegan Mango Cheesecake
- Vegan Mini Blueberry Tarts
- French Buckwheat Crepes
- Gluten Free Carrot Cake from It’s Not Complicated Recipes
- Vegan Banana Bread (Gluten Free + Sugar-Free)
- Gluten-Free Banana Buckwheat Pancakes
Dairy Free & Gluten Free Orange Almond Meal Cake Recipe:
Gluten Free Orange Almond Cake
Ingredients
Orange Almond Cake
- 3 Eggs
- 40 gr (3 tbsp) Brown Sugar
- 250 ml (1 cup) Orange Juice , (about 2 large oranges)
- 250 gr (2 1/2 cup) Almond Meal
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) Canola Oil
- 30 gr (3 tbsp) Cornstarch
Orange Syrup
- 1 Orange – juiced
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice, optional
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
Candied Orange Peels (optional)
- 1 Orange – peels & juice
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 teasp. Cinnamon Powder
- 1/2 teasp. Ginger Powder
Instructions
Orange Almond Cake
- Preheat your oven on 180’C/350’F.
- Seperate the Egg Yolks and Egg Whites. Set the Egg Whites aside.
- Whisk the Egg Yolks and Brown Sugar until foamy. Whisk in the Canola Oil, then the Orange Juice.
- Stir in the Almond Meal and Cornstarch, then set aside.
- Whip the Egg Whites into stiff peaks, the gently fold them into the rest of the batter in 3 times. Try not to overwork the cake batter.
- Line a round springform pan with baking paper and grease the edges. Pour in the batter and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tip of a knife comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool down.
Orange Syrup
- While the cake is baking, prepare the Orange Syrup: Place the Orange and Lemon Juice in a small pot with the Brown Sugar. Bring to a boil and leave to reduce for 5 to 10 minutes, or until sticky.
- After the cake has had time to cool down. brush the syrup all over the cake.
Candied Orange Peels
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin of the Orange – trying to leave the white bitter parts out. Finely chop the orange peels into thin strips.
- Place the orange peels in a small pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the pot and drain through a sieve, pouring cold water over the peels to stop the cooking.Repeat this step one more time to remove the bitterness from the peels.
- Place the orange peels back in the pot with the Orange Juice, Lemon Juice, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon and Ginger. Bring to a boil and leave to reduce until most of the liquid has evaporated. Transfer into a clean jar.
- Place over the cake before serving.
Such a delicious, classic cake – one for all to enjoy, and you would never know it was GF.
Thank you for sharing my carrot cake recipe, also 🙂
Thanks Alex! Making “all-inclusive” recipes is one of my favourite thing… and when people have no idea it is gluten free or dairy free, it’s a win for me!
I love almond cake, but have never seen a recipe this light before. I told myself I should have a break from eating cake, but seeing this has thrown that idea right out of the window!
Haha I know the struggle! Hard to be good when there are so many yummy recipes around… This one would be a good reason to cheat a little bit 😉
That looks amazing!
Thank you!
It’s hard to keep GF recipes so moist and light – this looks amazing!
I agree, that’s why I love to use Almond Meal – it really keeps baked goods nice and moist!
Perfect timing, I was just thinking of making a cake with oranges as I have some sitting that need using. I like that this is gluten free as I have a few friends with intolerance and I can try this out on them. Thanks for linking this up to #CookBlogShare. Michelle x
That sounds like the perfect coincidence! Hope you and your guest enjoy it 🙂
Another fantastic cake from you Sylvie!! I love the uniqueness of this recipe and I bet it tastes amazing. Gluten free is awesome too. I will have to try it girl xx
Thanks Adrianne! Such a deliciously moist cake 🙂
This looks so good! I love citrus flavored cakes and that orange candy peel looks great! I’ll have to make this soon!
Thank you Jamie, I love citrus flavoured anything too!
Love that I can serve this worry free!
Same here!
Love the crumb of the cake. Can’t believe that it is GlutenFree. So moist n yum.
Isnt it the best thing when you cant even tell its gluten free?
Gluten free sounds so healthy. I love the flavor to this cake too. Looks so moist and delicious.
Thanks Veena, love the flavours too!
Having no gluten issues at work or home, this would normally have never been an option for my weekly work bake. But I’m so glad I tried it – loved all round! Moist, delicious and so more-ish. Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe, Sylvie!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe, Michael! No one is gluten free around me either, but the taste and texture of this cake is just too good to pass 😉
I love the texture of almond cake and this orange version sounds delicious.
Love almond cake too, it’s aways the perfect mix of moist and still a bit crunchy 🙂
This cake is so delicious and I can’t believe how moist and flavorful it is! So good!
Thanks Pam!
Simply delicious. I love that I have everything in my pantry right now to make this delicious almond orange cake.
Yaaaay time to try it then!
Made this for my family and it has instantly become a new family favorite recipe! So easy and delicious!
So glad to hear this Beth, happy you all enjoyed it 🙂
I’m in love with this gorgeous recipe!
Thanks Traci!
This looks incredibly fluffy and delish! Can’t wait to try it!
Super fluffy! Thanks Liz 🙂