This Dairy Free and Flourless Almond Orange Cake is the most delicious, light and moist gluten free cake ever. 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!
Why we love this recipe
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, just like for my Orange Semolina Cake or Orange Tart, to make a really quick, easy and fresh cake batter. And like for many gluten-free cakes like this Pear Almond Cake, I used some Almond Meal that adds not only an amazing flavour to baked goods but a great texture too.
Made with a few ingredients only, this cake will be ready to be baked in about 10 minutes!
What is a 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.
Ingredients
Best thing about this Flourless Orange Cake is: 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: at room temperature, white and yolks separated
- Brown Sugar: can be replaced by simple white sugar if preferred
- Orange: both the Juice and Zest
- Canola Oil: or any other unflavoured vegetable oil that can be baked
- Almond Meal
- Cornstarch: or corn flour
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.
How to make this Gluten-Free Orange Cake
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!
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:
- Separate the Egg Whites and Egg Yolks
- Whisk the Egg Yolks with the Sugar.
- Add the wet ingredients: Oil, Orange Juice & Zest; 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.
Orange Syrup Topping
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!
Candied Orange Peels
To finish this Orange Almond Cake, I prepared some Candied Orange Peels. This is absolutely optional, but a delicious topping idea if you want to add it!
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 in water a couple of times, draining them well under cold water between each time. This is to remove all the bitterness.
- Place the the orange juice (you can also add some orange flesh to make more of a marmalade), sugar and spices in a small pot and heat up until the sugar has dissolved. Add the blanched Orange Peels and leave to reduce until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Recipe FAQs
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.
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.
It can be used in many different ways, from Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies to Almond Shortbread Cookies, Almond Cream Filling or Pear Frangipane Tartlets.
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!
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
Made this recipe? Leave a comment & rating below to let us know what you think and tag us on Instagram @abakingjourney to show us your creations!
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Gluten Free Orange Almond Cake
Ingredients
Orange Almond Cake
- 3 Eggs
- 40 gr (3 tbsp) Brown Sugar
- 250 ml (1 cup) Orange Juice (*) + Zest - (about 2 to 3 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
- 30 ml ( 2 tbsp) Lemon Juice
- 25 gr ( 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 and line a round springform pan (1) with baking paper and grease the edges.
- 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 and Zest
- 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 (2)
- 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
- 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.
- Brush the syrup all over the cool cake (or pour over individual slices).
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 (3).
- Place the orange peels back in the pot with the Orange Juice, Lemon Juice, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon and Ginger. Bring to a low boil and leave to reduce until most of the liquid has evaporated. Transfer into a clean container until ready to use (4).
- Place over the cake before serving.
Notes
- I used a 9 inch / 22 cm Springform Pan for this recipe
- If you work the batter to much here, the egg whites will deflate and the cake will be denser. Stop folding as soon as all the ingredients are incorporated
- If you want to remove all bitterness, you can repeat this process 1 or 2 times more. The more you blanch the peels, the less bitter they will be.
- If making them in advance, store them in the fridge. They will be sticky so I recommend storing them flat in a larger container.
