Orange Almond Cake Recipe
This Mediterranean-inspired orange almond cake is just what you need for a holiday or special occasion celebration.
This wonderful cake has all the flavors enjoyed in the Mediterranean. It’s gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and it’s perfect for celebrating any time of year. It’s great for the winter holidays but just as wonderful for a 4th of July get-together.
Gluten-Free and Refined Sugar-Free Orange and Almond Cake
This Orange and Almond Cake is wonderfully moist and flavorful, perfect for those looking for a gluten-free and refined sugar-free dessert option. It’s a mildly sweet cake. Nothing like the overly-sweetened cake you can buy at the store. It’s great served with some whipped cream. However, the cake itself is also dairy-free and vegetarian.
Tips For Orange Almond Cake
- Baking Powder: Ensure that your baking powder is fresh to make sure it will work well.
- Zest: When you are zesting the oranges, make sure to zest the oranges carefully, avoiding the bitter white pith.
- Sliced Almonds: Sliced almonds on top are a great choice for texture and visual appeal. Ensure they are lightly toasted for enhanced flavor.
- Baking Time: If the top is browning too quickly, you can cover it loosely with foil while it finishes baking.
- Even Baking: To ensure even baking, it’s crucial to properly preheat your oven and place the cake in the center.
- Structural Integrity: Once fully cooled, this cake is pretty durable. But while it’s warm, it can easily fall apart. I highly recommend letting the cake cool for a bit and then placing the whole thing, still in the baking pan, in the fridge overnight.
Cake Pan Size
For this recipe, I used a standard 8-inch round cake pan. If you don’t mind a thinner cake, feel free to use a 9 or 10-inch pan. An 8-inch cake pan will give you a cake that is approximately 2 inches thick after it cools.
How To Decorate An Orange Almond Cake
- Sprinkle sliced almonds on top, and then drizzle extra honey over that. Add a twisted half-orange slice to the top.
- Add some fresh baby’s breath sprigs to the top for decoration (do not eat)
- If you don’t mind using powdered sugar, sprinkle some through a sieve over the cake.
- You can treat this like an upside-down cake by putting peeled orange slices on the bottom of the cake pan with a bit of extra honey.
- Decorate with edible flowers and serve with a big dollop of whipped cream.
What To Serve With Orange Almond Cake
- Whipped cream is a fantastic topping for this cake.
- A scoop of vanilla ice-cream south be great.
- If you can find an orange marmalade you are comfortable eating, that would work well here. Particularly if you slice the cake and use that as a filling layer.
Optional Additions
If you like, you can also add a teaspoon of almond extract to bring out more of the almond flavors. They are not prevalent in this cake, believe it or not.
About The Ingredients For Orange Almond Cake
Wet Ingredients
Oranges – You’ll use whole oranges, both zest and juice – you need 3/4 cup juice.
Eggs – Room temperature works best.
Honey – Any kind you like.
Vanilla extract – Use the real stuff. Not vanilla flavoring.
Orange extract
Dry Ingredients
Raw almonds – Finely ground. You should end up with approximately 4 cups of ground almonds. If you don’t want to grind your own, use 2 cups of almond meal and 2 cups of fine almond flour.
Baking powder – Make sure it’s fresh.
Pinch of salt – Whatever you normally cook or bake with.
Garnish
Sliced almonds – Optional for garnish.
Orange – An extra peel one for garnish. You can cut it into strips to make it look pretty.
Baby’s Breath – Optional, to make it pretty.
How To Make Orange Almond Cake
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Gather all your ingredients and grind your almonds in a food processor. You want to grind them as fine as you can without turning them into almond butter.
Grease a round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Zest the oranges to get about 2-3 tablespoons of orange zest. Set the zest aside. Cut the oranges in half and juice them. You’ll need about 3/4 cup of fresh orange juice. Set the juice aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the wet ingredients together with an electric mixer until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients and blend them again with an electric beater until well combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top for decoration if desired. (I sprinkled mine on after baking, but the choice is yours)
Bake in the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once baked, cool the cake in the pan for about 30 minutes on a wire rack. Then, transfer the whole thing to the fridge and let it chill overnight. To release the cake from the pan, you may have to run a knife around the edges first. Then, turn the cake out onto a flat surface and let it sit to bring it back to room temperature for serving.
Garnish the cake as you see fit. I highly recommend some sliced almonds, an extra drizzle of honey or maple syrup, and some whipping cream.
Storage
Store any leftovers, wrapped well with plastic wrap, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezing Orange Almond Cake
You can freeze leftovers if you wrap them really well and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Healthy Cake Recipes
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Orange Almond Cake Recipe Card
Orange Almond Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 1 8-inch cake pan (springform is best, but not required)
Ingredients
- 3 large oranges (zest and juice – 3/4 cup juice)
- 6 large eggs
- 1 lb. raw almonds (ground fine in a food processor)
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp. orange extract
- sliced almonds (for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Gather all your ingredients and grind your almonds in a food processor. You want to grind them as fine as you can without turning them into almond butter.
- Grease a round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Zest the oranges to get about 2-3 tablespoons of orange zest. Set the zest aside. Cut the oranges in half and juice them. You'll need about 3/4 cup of fresh orange juice. Set the juice aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the wet ingredients together with an electric mixer until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and blend them again with an electric beater until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top for decoration if desired. (I sprinkled mine on after baking, but the choice is yours)
- Bake in the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The top should be a nice golden brown.
- Once baked, cool the cake in the pan for about 30 minutes on a wire rack. Then, transfer the whole thing to the fridge and let it chill overnight. To release the cake from the pan, you may have to run a knife around the edges first. Then, turn the cake out onto a flat surface and let it sit to bring it back to room temperature for serving.
- Garnish the cake as you see fit. I highly recommend some sliced almonds, an extra drizzle of honey or maple syrup, and some whipping cream.