If you came here looking for a fabulous naturally gluten-free sweet treat then you are about to be very happy you stopped by. This whole orange almond flour cake is super easy, needs only 6 basic pantry ingredients (most of us have almond flour on hand, right?) and none of those niche add-ins that so many gluten-free desserts often require.
I would also like to say that even if you are not avoiding gluten, I would still make this cake. I made this for a friend a few weeks ago and she ended up sharing it and no one even realized it was anything other than just a great citrusy cake.
This is how gluten-free desserts should be, right?
Let’s get started…
Our 6 ingredients needed to make this cake is 2 medium oranges or 3 clementines, 4 large eggs, some granulated sugar, super fine almond flour, baking powder and vanilla.
Thats it.
Let’s start by talking about the almond flour.
If you often look through gluten-free dessert recipes, you may see that some require almond flour and some call for almond meal. You may be asking what the difference is and can you use either or both?
Technically, the main difference is that almond flour is made by grinding peeled blanched almonds and almond meal is ground whole almonds including the skins. So almond flour is a little lighter in both texture and color and almond meal is a little heavier and often contains brown specks from the skins.
You can use either in many recipes (including this cake), but almond flour usually results in a lighter, fluffier finished product and almond meal can make the texture a little heavier and more dense.
Now let’s talk about the oranges.
First, use organic here. We are using the entire orange, so you aren’t going to want to add peels that have been coated in chemicals or pesticides into your cake.
You can use 2 medium sized oranges (choose something juicy and seedless) or 3 clementines. You want to have right around 250 grams before blending. You can also swap some or all of the orange out for another citrus like limes, lemons, grapefruit, tangelo… any citrus will work!
To get started, combine 4 large eggs with 220 grams of granulated sugar and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract until smooth.
Add your blended oranges and mix until the pulp is evenly distributed.
Stir in 240 grams of almond flour and a teaspoon of baking powder (make sure to use gluten-free baking powder if you are on a strict gluten-free diet) until the batter is just combined.
Transfer the batter into a greased and parchment lined loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until the center of the loaf feels set and a toothpick will come out of the center mostly clean.
This is a very moist cake, so make sure to leave it in the oven until it is fully baked and then let it cool fully inside the loaf pan before transferring it out. This will require patience and for that, I am sorry, but it will all be worth it in the end.
Even when this cake is fully baked and fully cooled, it is still incredibly moist from all of the oranges baked into the batter. The flavors are super citrusy (obviously!), bright and cheerful. Just perfect with a cup of tea or after a morning run.
If you are looking for naturally gluten-free dessert that is not complicated to make and tastes just like the other stuff then you should definitely give this whole orange almond flour cake a try. You’ll be so glad that you did…
If you don’t have almond flour on hand or prefer to make this cake with all purpose flour instead, try my sicilian clementine cake here!
Whole Orange Almond Flour Cake
Ingredients
- 2 medium oranges or 3 clementines
- 4 large eggs
- 220 grams of granulated sugar (about 1 cup)
- 240 grams of almond flour (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°
- Butter an 8”x4” loaf pan and line with a parchment paper sling leaving 2-3 inches overhanging on both sides
- Thoroughly clean your oranges and slice off any thick ends (I like to add most of the peel, but will trim off the ends)
- Place the prepped oranges into a blender and blend until a smooth pulp forms
- In a large bowl, vigorously whisk 4 large eggs with 220 grams of granulated sugar and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract until pale yellow and creamy
- Add the orange pulp and mix until combined
- Add 240 grams of almond flour and a teaspoon of baking powder and mix until just combined
- Transfer the batter into the prepped loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until a toothpick will come out of the center of the cake clean and it feels set to a light touch (if the cake wobbles in the middle, looks wet or feels soft in the center, let it bake longer or it will collapse as it cools)
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