I love this Orange Cake for the nutty flavour, damp and sticky texture, the beautiful orange flavour, and the unique method by which it’s made: blitzing whole oranges, rind and all, with almond meal, sugar, eggs and baking powder. No oil, no butter, no whisking!
Terrific easy cake for gatherings. And because it’s gluten-free and lactose free, everyone can enjoy it!
Whole Orange Cake
If you’ve spent a lifetime peeling oranges, it might sound strange that this cake is made using a whole orange.
But here’s the thing – as with lemons and limes, most of the orange flavour is in the rind. You will get way better orange flavour by mixing 1 tablespoon of finely grated orange zest into, say, Vanilla Frosting, rather than 1/4 cup of orange juice. Not to mention that zest doesn’t make frostings and cake batters watery.
So – we like rind for flavour. But we don’t like the pith – the white part underneath the skin – because it’s bitter.
Solution: boil the oranges. This removes the bitterness as well as softening the oranges to make them “jammy”, which makes the cake damp and sticky inside.
What goes in Orange Cake
Just 5 ingredients:
- Whole fresh oranges
- Almond meal (aka ground almonds) – see note below
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Baking powder (make sure it’s gluten free if you’re making this as a gluten free cake)
Just a note on a couple of the ingredients:
Almond meal / ground almonds
This is literally raw almonds that are blitzed into a fine powder. It’s easily found nowadays, sold in the dried fruit & nut section and health food section of grocery stores.
You can also make your own by blitzing 250g/ 9oz raw, unpeeled, unsalted almonds in a powerful blender (I use a Vitamix) until it becomes a fine powder.
Almond flour is different but can also be used. This is made with blanched, peeled almonds, blitzed until it becomes powder form. It is lighter in colour (because the brown skin is removed) and it has a finer texture so it will give it slightly fluffier consistency. It also has a slightly less pronounced almond flavour. Almond flour is not as common in Australia. I’ve purchased it from those health food places where you serve yourself from tubs, like Scoop Wholefoods.
Oranges
The fresh oranges cannot be substituted with orange juice – the batter in this recipe relies on the thickness of the pureed oranges. Also, using whole oranges delivers massive orange flavour that OJ can never replicate!!
You will need 2 medium oranges about 8cm / 3″ in diameter (think baseball size) totalling around 600g/1.2 lb. You don’t need to be exact here – if they weigh more, your cake will be a little bit more moist. If they weigh less, that’s totally fine – almond meal cakes are super moist already, you won’t feel deprived.
But obviously if you have tiny ones, use multiple!
Can lemons be used as well?
Unfortunately not! Tried, and it was too bitter because the ratio of pith to flesh is higher. But it had a gorgeous lemon flavour. Still working on it!
How to make Orange Cake
The method used for this orange cake recipe is quite unique with the bonus being that it’s easy and low-effort. As mentioned above, oranges are boiled to soften and remove the bitterness from the pith (white part of rind). After this, they are blitzed – rind and all – with the remaining ingredients to make the batter.
You normally can’t use a food processor or blender for cake recipes made with flour because they’re simply too powerful so they will overwork the gluten in the batter, resulting in horridly hard, rubbery cakes!
First – boil and chop
- Boil oranges in water for 10 minutes;
- Drain, then repeat twice more. (ie 3 x 10 minutes) The purpose of this step is to remove the bitterness from the white part of the rind – if you skip this (and there are some recipes that do) then the cake will be bitter. Shortcut: Boil 40 minutes without draining, but keep an eye on water level. The flavour is marginally “cleaner” if you change the water as directed, but this shortcut is perfectly acceptable;
- Slice oranges and remove seeds; then
- Roughly chop – no need to be meticulous here, it’s just to help it blitz faster.
Then – blitz and bake!
- Place in a food processor. Blender also works, but I find it more tedious to scrape all the batter out. A NutriBullet works brilliantly for the blitzing but is too small for the whole batch of batter . So just do the oranges first, pour into bowl, blitz remaining ingredients, then mix everything together in the bowl;
- Blitz for 3 x 10 second bursts on high, scraping down the sides well, until you no longer see the large lumps and it’s looks like jam. It may take longer depending on the strength of your food processor. Basically, the less orange rind bits, the better – but some rind bits are ok, great jammy texture!
- Add the remaining ingredients – almond meal, baking powder, sugar and eggs, then blitz until well combined. If at this stage you realise there’s still too many rind chunks, you can blitz for longer;
- Pour into a lined cake pan – 1 x 23cm/9″ (cake will be 4 cm / 1.7″ tall) or 2 x 20cm / 8″ (cake will be 3 cm / 2.2″ tall);
- Bake for 60 minutes until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean; and
- Cool in the pan – it’s too fragile to remove while warm. The cake will shrink some, as you can see in the photo above.
Decoration Suggestions
Unlike some cakes, I think an unadorned Orange Cake is lovely because it has a gorgeous golden orange colour. Also, this cake is so moist and full of flavour, you do not need nor want a frosting. I’ve seen some recipes that soak similar cakes in orange syrup – too sweet for me!
However, if you want to give it some pretty finishing touches to impress your work colleagues or friends, here are a few suggestions:
- Dusting of icing sugar / powdered sugar – simple and pretty!
- Fresh oranges (pictured above) – cut thin slices of oranges with rind on, then cut a slit to the middle. Then twist and place on the cake, as shown – it will hold itself in place;
- Orange rind (pictured above) – use a knife or zester to cut thin strips of orange rind. Orange part only, not the white pith. Twist them around a wooden spoon handle or similar, leave for 10 minutes or so then it will hold it’s shape in loose curls, as pictured. For tight ringlets, leave overnight!
- Fresh flowers – just a few little sprigs from a tree out of the front of my house are pictured here. Not edible, just for decorations! They’re not orange blossoms either unfortunately….
- Candied orange peel or dried orange slices – scatter! With or without icing sugar;
- Toasted almonds – flakes or slivers. To make them stick, you could brush the surface with warmed marmalade loosened with a touch of water;
- Pomegranate seeds – for a wow-factor pop of red colour!
- Drippy lemon or orange glaze – use the one in this Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe.
How to serve it
I can 100% promise you, this cake is moist and flavourful enough to eat plain. But if you really want something to dollop on the side, yogurt is excellent – the fresh tartness plays extremely well against the nuttiness of the almonds, and I think it’s a better option than cream. Plain or Greek yogurt is best, or a very mildly sweet flavoured one.
For a richer alternative, creme fraiche would be lovely.
It’s also very, very good served ever-so-slightly warmed with a scoop of ice cream on top. Perhaps not conventional – but it works, and that’s what matters! – Nagi x
PS. Also – for gluten-free purposes and just because it’s darn tasty – a suggested alternative to this cake is Flourless Chocolate Cake. New video for this one is coming soon!
Watch how to make it
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Whole Orange Cake - flourless
Ingredients
- 2 medium oranges, fresh whole with rind on - any type (600g/1.4 lb total weight, ~300g / 10 oz each orange, ~ 8cm/3" diametre, Note 1)
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 6 large eggs , at room temp (Note 2)
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 2 3/4 cups almond meal / ground almonds (Note 3)
Instructions
Boil oranges:
- Boil 10 minutes: Place oranges in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium high heat. Boil for 10 minutes and drain.
- Repeat x 2: Put oranges back in the pot, cover with cold water and boil again for 10 minutes. Drain, then repeat once more (ie. boil oranges 3 x 10 minutes). Shortcut: Boil 40 minutes without draining, keeping an eye on water level. (Note 4)
- Chop: Rinse oranges, then cool slightly so you can handle them. Slice into 1cm / 1/4" slices then dice, removing any seeds. Cool completely.
Batter:
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan). Grease and line a 23cm/9" cake pan with baking/parchment paper. (Note 5)
- Blitz oranges: Place chopped oranges in a food processor (Note 6). Blitz on high for 4 x 10 second bursts, scraping down the sides in between, until it's pureed into a marmalade consistency with only a few visible bits of rind remaining. It does not need to be completely smooth.
- Blitz in remaining ingredients: Add almond meal, eggs, baking powder and sugar. Blitz for 5 - 10 seconds on high until combined.
- Bake 60 minutes: Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake 60 minutes until the surface is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool: Cool fully in cake pan. Unless using loose base pan, cover surface with baking paper to help you turn it out (cake is sticky so may stick to your hand and tear surface otherwise.)
- Serve: Decorate as desired - I used slices of fresh oranges, rind strips and sprigs of flowers. A dusting of icing sugar / powdered sugar is also lovely. Cut, then serve! See Note 7 for suggestions.
Recipe Notes:
- Be sure to use gluten-free baking powder if making this for GF purposes!
- Sweetness - average sweetness, definitely not overly sweet. Sugar can be cut to as little as 1/2 cup but personally, I don't think that's sweet enough.
1. Oranges - the cake is fine with smaller or larger oranges, but aim for around 600g/1.2lb in total. If they are much larger, then the cake will just be more moist. Obviously if yours are tiny, then use more than 2 so they total 600g/1.2lb! Does it work with lemons? Unfortunately not! Tried, and it was too bitter because the ratio of pith to flesh is higher. But it had a gorgeous lemon flavour. Working on it! Will update when I figure it out. 2. Large eggs - industry standard, labelled as such on egg cartons. 55 - 60g / 2 oz each. 3. Almond meal / ground almonds (same thing) - this is finely blitzed raw, whole almonds in powder form, used in place of flour to add a beautifully nutty flavour to cakes, makes them ultra moist and also gluten-free. Find it in the dried fruit and nut section or health food section of grocery stores. Making your own: 250g/9 oz whole, raw unsalted almonds, blitzed until powdered. Almond flour is slightly different but can be used. Cake texture will be slightly lighter (almond flour is made with blanched peeled almonds). 4. Changing water makes the cake flavour a bit cleaner because you're discarding the bitter flavour in the water. But it's only marginal - I've often done a 40 minute straight boil. 5. Cake pans - also great in 2 x 20cm/8" pans, 50 minutes in oven. I like using 1 x 23cm / 9" pan because it's slightly taller. 6. Food processor is best for ease of use. You can also use a blender (it's just more annoying to scrape out all batter) or a NutriBullet (too small for full batter, so blitz oranges first, transfer to bowl, blitz everything else and then mix). I've also made this by hand when camping: I finely chopped boiled oranges by knife, then used a fork to mash as best I could (mortar and pestle would also work.) To cook, I used a large pot, with a cake pan elevated over simmering water using a few rocks, lid on, about 1 hour. Worked 100% perfectly - and came out even more moist from the steam! 7. Serving: Delicious plain because it's so moist and flavourful, but a dollop of Greek or plain yogurt, or creme fraiche is also wonderful. Otherwise, slightly warmed with vanilla ice cream! Decorations - see in post for suggestions. 8. Source - This recipe was given to me by a Sydney based professional pastry chef, a recipe she's used at establishments she's previously worked at. 9. Storage - keeps 5 days in an airtight container in the pantry, though if it's hot where you are, then it's recommended to keep in the fridge. Stays 100% perfectly moist! It can also be frozen up to 3 months. Make ahead: Oranges can be boiled and chopped the day before, and refrigerated. Bring to room temp then use per recipe. 10. Nutrition per serving assuming 12 servings.
Nutrition Information:
More delicious cakes with fruit
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This was soooo good and very easy! I used the almond flour and had no issues. It was so moist – just a touch bitter (I did the lazy boil) but it in a good way. Thank you so much for posting!!
This might be the most ridiculous question you’ve ever received, Nagi, but: how in the world do you achieve in lining a cake pan like that? No matter how I try, my parchment paper will never cover both the bottom and the sides with just one layer. I have to use multiple layers of parchment and it ends up all messy in the pan… I would LOVE to see how you do that on video! 🙂
A quick question – I’ve prepped the oranges in advance to make this tomorrow. Boiled for 45 minutes and chopped up.
I’ve tasted them: they’re still quite bitter! Should I plough on or start again do you think?!
Hi Nagi, thanks so much for posting such a wonderful recipe. I made them into little muffins and my family loved them. The cakes were so moist.
Hi! I made this last night and it is lovely – thanks so much! One point of confusion you may wish to correct: the ingredient listing shows “2 3/4 cups almond meal / ground almonds”. I had measured out 9 oz. of raw almonds – as referenced in multiple parts of the recipe narrative and notes – and they measured around 1 and 2/3 cups. Volume stayed essentially the same after I blitzed them into a meal. After somewhat agonizing over whether to trust the weight instruction over the volume instruction, I stayed with the 9 oz and it turned out great. So now I’m wondering whether you meant to list 1 and 3/4 cups instead of 2 and 3/4 cups in the ingredient list. Posting this question in case in may help someone else who is wondering the same thing. Also: I used 1 cup of raw sugar instead of 1 and 1/4 cups white sugar and it was still plenty sweet.
Amazing!!! My first orange cake that is not bitter. I made it for my gluten intolerant friend and she loved it. So did the family. I served it with yogurt but I think Nagi’s recommendation of greek yogurt is the way to go. Two thumbs up.
Hey Navi
Any idea which kind of ,orange will work the best here? Has anyone experimented with mandarins?
So excited to make this! I was just wondering what kind of oranges you use?
I love the intense orange flavor of this cake so much. I made it for my husband’s birthday. I don’t have a proper cake pan so made in a square 8×8 pyrex and it worked fine, but presentation was kind of sad. The moist texture seems pretty forgiving and kind of reminds me of a steamed pudding, so want to try some little cake molds (although probably more practical just to buy a cake pan…).
Hi Nagi, is it possible to make this recipe in a single round 8″ tin (as opposed to 2 8″ rounds)?
Wow, I have made other versions of this cake but this recipe is the best. It rose beautifully and was so moist and perfect in every way that it was a joy to take it to a Christmas lunch and look like a pro. Thanks!
I’m allergic to nuts. Could I swap almond meal for flour?
No sorry Ariana, you need the nut flour here to keep it moist. N x
Would coconut flour work? Thanks!
I’d like to make this for holiday gifts. Can you give me an adaption for 6″ cakes?
Thanks
Hi Pam, I haven’t made this in a 6″ pan – I imagine you could possibly get two cakes out of the one mixture but I can’t be sure without testing. N x
Hi Nagi! I made this cake twice exactly as per the recipe and the first time it was PERFECT. So moist and just absolutely gorgeous! But the second time turned out so bitter I had to throw it out. Any ideas of how I might avoid that in the future just to be safe? Cut the orange open post-boiling and shave off the white bits perhaps? Or boil the oranges for longer?
Also, do you think I could substitute the white sugar for coconut sugar or something “healthier”? I’m trying to impress a “health-conscious” crowd..
I always make this one with coconut sugar, it’s delicious. I found the first one was slightly too sweet so now I cut the sugar by about 1/3rd, but I don’t know whether that’s the coconut sugar, the oranges, or just my taste. Good luck!
Hi. Due to allergies, I’d like to make this without egg yolks. Would it work with 50-60g of egg whites?
Hi Char – you may find that it dries the cake out a bit – Love to know if you give it a go! N x