Gluten-Free Orange Almond Cake

Using pantry ingredients, this Gluten-Free Orange Almond Cake is a surprisingly easy yet tasty cake to create. The moist, fragrant sponge is topped with tangy Greek yogurt and a sticky sweet orange and honey syrup offset with crunchy pistachios. With zero flour, this simple recipe will win you over.

This is another addition to my small batch baking series that is proving popular during this pandemic. There are many people in the world, old and young, who are living by themselves. Or there are only a few members in the household and standard recipe sizes just don't suit. They aren’t able to share their bakes with family, friends, work colleagues like they used to. So a batch of 12 cupcakes, 24 cookies, or a 2 tiered cake is just TOO large.

And so this, and my other small-batch recipes, such as my Raspberry-White Chocolate Pop-Tarts, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and Earl Grey Lemon Cupcakes are designed to be low in quantity size. However, the best bit is that they can easily be doubled for those that need to make larger servings.

This cake originally combined flour, semolina, and almond meal in the cake batter but I really wanted to develop the recipe to be gluten-free. I literally just subbed the flour and semolina for almond meal and it worked so well.

I’ve seen other flourless orange cakes that boil whole oranges and then blend them to go into the batter, such as Rick Stein's version. However, I wanted this Gluten-Free Orange Cake to be quick and easy and so I decided to sub the boiled orange pulp for zest, orange blossom water, and honey. Both executions leave you with an incredibly moist cake-like nothing you’ve tasted before. I can’t wait for you to try it!

Ingredients needed

You'll probably find that you have most of the ingredients in your pantry. Especially if you’ve followed my Guides on What Ingredients To Stock In Your Baking Pantry and How To Organise Your Baking Pantry. The one exception is the Orange Blossom Water. It's my secret weapon in baking- it can transform any plain baked goods into a thing of beauty through its lightly fragranced, orange floral taste.

Orange almond cake

• Butter - Unsalted butter is best here - ensure it's room temperature so that it can be creamed suffiently with the sugar.
• Sugar - I've specified granulated but caster sugar will work too.
• Eggs - Helps bind the ingredients together, create structure and stability to the batter but also create moisture. Use large eggs and make sure it's room temperature.
• Almond meal - Also known as ground almonds or almond flour, made solely from almonds, this is a substitute for regular flour.
• Baking powder - Acts as a standard leavening agent within the cake to help with that light sponge feel.
• Flavourings: Honey, orange blossom water and orange zest - The flavours within the cake batter. All subtle on their own but when combined they come together with the almonds to create a gently flavoured moist cake.
• Topping - Slather in thick Greek yogurt and sprinkle with toasted pistachios for crunch.

Orange honey syrup

• Orange juice - The zest has gone into the cake so time to use the juice for our syrup. Using juice rather than water just boosts the orange flavour to the max.
• Honey & sugar - The honey and sugar caramelise and thicken to create the syrup.

Step-by-step instructions

*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*

This flourless orange almond cake is an incredibly simple cake to make, and that’s why I love it. It's quick and easy to put together and whilst baking you can make the orange honey syrup. Within an hour you'll be sitting down to a slice of this with a cup of tea. What could be more perfect?

Orange Almond Cake

1. Cream butter & sugar. Preheat your oven and then it's time to cream your butter and sugar together until pale, fluffy, and light. I use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment as it's easily accessible, but hand-held electric beaters will work just as well. (Image 1)

2. Add the eggs. Scrape down your bowl often to ensure all the batter gets mixed together and then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until mixed. Don't forget to scrape the bowl again! (Image 2)

3. Add in the flavourings. The ingredients that give this cake a flavour boost get added in here. The honey, orange zest, and orange blossom water are added - the smell is intoxicating at this point!!

4. Add the dry ingredients: The almond meal and baking powder are added and folded in with a rubber spatular. The batter is fairly thick due to the weight of the ground nuts. It's meant to be like this, so don't worry!

5: Bake! Pour batter into the prepared 6-inch tin and bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. The outside will darken more than a normal sponge cake - this is because of the honey in the batter and the fact that it will caramelize during baking. (Image 5 & 6) Tent with foil three quarters of the way through the bake to slow the browning down.

Orange honey syrup

1. Make the syrup. Whilst the syrup is baking, add the juice, honey, and sugar into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. You'll leave it to boil for about five minutes and during this time you'll see the sugar dissolve and the syrup thicken. Take it off the heat and pour it into your serving jug to cool. If it still looks runny, as it cools it'll thicken up. You can serve it warm or completely cooled.

To serve

Now serve! Once the cake is totally cooled to room temperature, then spoon the Greek Yogurt over the top and smooth it to the sides. Drizzle some of the delicious Orange Honey Syrup over the top and sprinkle with pistachios.

Alternatively, if you'd like to eat the cake warm, slice individual portions and plate each slice of cake separately. Dollop Greek yogurt onto the plate next to the cake and then drizzle each serving with syrup and sprinkle with nuts. This ensures the yogurt won't melt away on top of the warm sponge!

The crumb on this cake is like no other. Because of the almond meal, it has a slightly larger crumb in texture yet the moisture and softness of the cake are unbelievable. Plus the honey addition creates this slightly caramelized out layer on the edges of the cake. My favourite bit if truth be told!

Substitutions

Here are a few substitutions that you can make:

• Granulated sugar: Sub for caster sugar or golden sugar or golden caster sugar
• Honey: Sub for maple syrup
• Almond Meal: Sub for hazelnut meal
• Orange: Sub for mandarines
• Orange Blossom Water: This ingredient is totally optional, sub for 1 teaspoon orange extract if you have it or vanilla bean extract
• Light brown sugar: Sub for white or brown sugar
• Pistachios: Sub for flaked or chopped almonds
• Greek yogurt: Sub for whipped coconut cream or whipped double cream

If you make any of these substitutions then the overall taste will be altered. The cake will still taste great!

Frequently asked questions

How to store and freeze

To Store: The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days providing that it doesn’t have the yoghurt on the top. Store in the fridge for up to five days if the yogurt is on the cake.

To freeze: Store undecorated cake in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. Once defrosted, decorate with yogurt, orange honey syrup, and nuts. It isn't recommended to freeze the cake with the yogurt on top.

Tools you’ll need

• Stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment: For creaming the butter and sugar, but hand-held electric beaters can be used here instead.
• Cake pan 15cm (6-inches): The perfect cake pan size for this small batch beauty.

More cake recipes, that you may like

• Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Blackberries
• Strawberry Lemonade Cake
• Dark Chocolate Torte

This post was originally published in April 2020 but has been updated with new content.