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
Life of Dozer
My money pit.
(I’m talking about the pool. What did you think I was referring to?? 😂)
Baked this this afternoon, so quick and easy and very tasty, added a dash of Cointreau to the cream for serving – yummy! Thanks Nagi for another great recipe.
I love that idea Karen!!!! N x
Can this be made with maple syrup instead of white sugar?
Unfortunately not as it will change the texture and be too wet. N x
Hiya!
I used maple syrup + a couple of spoons of raw sugar, it came out really really good!!! So moist and the aroma and flavour are just delicious! It took longer than 60 minutes to bake and I lower the temperature a little bit to compensate for the extra moisture without overcooking it… it’s definitely worth trying 😉
This is soooo amazing! Thank you again for another fabulous recipe. I halved the ingredients and baked in a bundt tin. Perfect.
You’re so welcome Maggie!! N x
Delicious! I am a coeliac so really appreciate the gluten free cake recipe. Made it last night and it turned out very well. Some minor tweakes in that I used blood oranges (came out looking the same – somewhat disappointed- was hoping for a pink cake!) and added some rose water and vanilla to the batter for extra perfume.
Sounds lovely Kirstie – I can just how beautiful it would of smelt with the rosewater! N x
Nagi, una gran receta, he preparado este pastel con mandarinas y también queda muy bueno
Sounds perfect Ana!! N x
Made this recipe today. Halved it and used a small bundt pan. Turned out terrific. Absolutely loved the texture of it. Served it with vanilla ice cream. Definitely making this again. It was super easy! Thanks Nagi for another wonderful recipe. Many have become a staple in my home.
That’s great to hear Nora!!!
Thanks for this recipe Nagi! I have made variations of it using clementines or mandarins, going by weight. Will definitely try this version! And although it’s a bit like “gilding the lily”, a bit of dark chocolate glaze on top does not go amiss either!
It will be like a Jaffa inspired cake – chocolate and orange is a great combo Joyce!! N x
Hi again! So I used your recipe and YUM! Simmered 600g of mandarins (about 9 small) for 40 minutes but did discard a few of the peels. I was afraid that with that much peel, the cake might be bitter. But I could have left them in. Used almond flour and decreased sugar to 200g. Added in a bit of orange liqueur. Baked for 1-1/4 hours and topped with a bittersweet chocolate glaze. Very moist and tender! Thanks again!
Made your orange cake & prawn tacos tonight. Fantastic, both.
Thank you Nagi, really amazing.
😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
Kisses to Dozer.
Yum!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Barbra!! N x
Hi, thank you for sharing of your wonderful recipes. Would you be kind to advise whether it should be 300g or 600g oranges in total. I found different weights in the ingredients part and recipe notes part. Kindest regards B
Hi Beata, I mention 2 oranges (300g each) – so you want 600g in total. N x
All your recipes are fabulous. This one was a great success too. Thank you for your generosity in sharing these recipes and tips. Your detailed guidence is amazing.
Thank you so much for the kind words Gen, I truly appreciate it!! 🥰 N x
Thanks for sharing Nagi! One of my fav cakes to make. Love the boiling 3 times tip. It can be a bit bitter otherwise. Trust me.. this cake gets sweeter after a few days. I’ve learnt to make it ahead if I’m taking it somewhere to share. (God! I miss those days) :(((((((
It will get back to normal soon, I know it Jetta!!!! N x
Looks wonderful, and i will make it. Unless i missed it, the recipe does not indicate the oven temperature to bake it at.
Hi Robin, it’s listed there in step 1 under the “batter” heading – “Preheat oven…” N x
160c / 320F
I liked the look of this cake and thought it could be easily modified to suit a Keto diet since it’s already half way there. I substituted erythritol for the sugar and it came out great.
Boiling the orange three times was very time consuming which Nagi does not configure into the time it takes to make the cake. It’s an awfully long process for a very simple cake.
It’s also a very large cake and we eat very little in the baked goods department (again, because of the keto lifestyle) so I halved it.
The cake came out delicious though my son complained that it was a tad bitter. That didn’t bother me or my husband at all. I did boil that darn orange according to your directions, changing out the water three times.
Nagi, it would be so much more easier to adjust quantities if you would list your ingredients by weight instead of, or in addition to volume. Please consider it. I think many people (especially Europeans) use the weighing method in our cooking/baking.
Hi Sharon – yes the time taken to boil is included in the time taken to cook. If you click the metric toggle above the ingredients – you’ll get the weight of the ingredients – you can scale this as you need. This is a standard in my recipes – I assume this addresses your issues 🙂 N x
Looks so good! I’ve taken up cooking as my ISO hobby and have really enjoyed reading your blogs and following your recipes 🙂 I’m in need of a new food processor and wanted to know if you would recommend a particular brand/model?
Hi Rosie, it really depends on what you’re going o use it for as they have so many different functions! I use a Breville though 🙂 N x
I was just curious on which one you use. I’ll check out the breville range 🙂 thanks
Yum, thanks for the recipe Nagi! Made the cake as soon as I saw your email and it was absolutely delicious slightly warm with some chopped pistachios sprinkled on top.
Perfect Bec!! I’m so glad you loved it!! N x
Your food styling is sublime. That first photo is beyond gorgeous – nice job.
Thanks so much Andrea!! N x
I baked it, added another 1/2 hr.
Being diabetic i only had the swerve confectioners sugar. I did one cup of swerve and 1/2 cup of sugar. It came out moist, but could be a little sweeter for me. my wife liked it with Greek yogurt and hot pepper jelly. (Ying and Yang)
so will play and use swerve granulated sugar next time.
Steve Tayler
Hi Steve, sorry I can’t really comment on the sweetness as you’ve changed the recipe here! N x
I’m type 2, Love oranges but instead I use lemons, just as nice Also use coconut sugar or Monk Fruit, no bitter after taste
I use coconut sugar or Monk fruit sugar, no bitter after taste!
I’m type 2 diabetic, even thou I love oranges, but now I use lemons instead, still yummy!
I used to make this recipe often, with the variation of using confectioners sugar which dissolves more easily if you are hand mixing it. Now I am diabetic and can’t eat it. But I am delighted to see the recipe on your blog. I highly recommend it.
I can’t wait to try this – it looks amazing!! Could you also do it with lemons or other citrus?
Thanks for sharing your wonderful talent.
This looks so easy and yummy. I don’t know how you do it? You’re so creative. Thanks for all you do.
PS I really love the conversations between you and Dozer – well he really doesn’t say much but your interpretations are hilarious.
This looks really good. I was wondering in I could bake in in a loaf pan instead…or would that be too tall… Maybe in a muffin tin?
Hi Jenn, it really depends on the size to be honest – this one works better in a shallow pan as it doesn’t rise much. N x