Healthy Whole Orange Almond Cake
This super moist and healthy Whole Orange Almond Cake is made with only 7 ingredients and NO butter or oil!
It’s incredibly gratifying to watch peoples’ expressions when they eat my desserts. It usually starts with a gasp after it is first revealed, as I like to present cakes and such on clean, sophisticated plateware (you eat with your eyes first, right?). I sometimes hear an “eep!” from excitement when I set the plate down. I soon see a grin that stretches from ear to ear after the first bite is taken. I love it most when someone actually closes their eyes. It is like a short-lived, yet personal bonding moment between them and their tastebuds.
But nearly every. single. time… someone will say, “Oh my gosh this has got to be packed with calories!” Or, “Thank goodness I worked out this morning!”
I am always a little shocked, especially if it’s a family member who says it. Like, don’t you know who I am? I’m the household food police! You want those Oreos? I glare at you and list off every single ingredient I hate, why I hate it and why you should too.
So when my mother huddled over a slice of this cake and said, “Oh no, if I keep eating I won’t be able to fit into my pants tomorrow … *takes bite* … but I can’t stop, it’s so good!” I was speechless. I rolled my eyes, picked my chin up off the floor and said “MOM, this is goood for youuu.” After I listed off the ingredients, she stopped hunching over her plate like a bear over her cub and proudly strut to the dinner table, healthy dessert in hand.
A superbly soft and moist cake that… has no oil or butter? Yes.
A perfectly sweet cake that… has no sugar added? Yes.
An incredibly decadent cake that is… cholesterol-free and lowers cholesterol? Really? Oh yes.
This Healthy Whole Orange Almond Cake is heaven on a plate. Your tastebuds (and waistline) will be happier than ever!
Healthy Whole Orange Almond Cake
Ingredients
- 2 Organic Navel Oranges (~10" in circumference)
- 1 cup Egg Whites (fresh, not cartoned)
- ½ tsp Almond Flavor
- 192g (2 cups) Almond Flour
- 120g (1 cup) Oat Flour
- 192g (1 cup) Granulated Erythritol
- 2 tsp Double-Acting Baking Powder
Instructions
- Wash the oranges thoroughly then pierce all over with a knife. Place the oranges in a large pot and cover with water. Bring this to a full boil, then lower the heat to medium/low-low and cover. Simmer for ~1 hour (oranges should be very soft and tender), drain and let cool slightly. Cut the oranges into quarters, discard all seeds and puree in a blender.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8" cake pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the almond flour, oat flour, erythritol and baking powder.
- In a large bowl, add the orange puree, egg whites and almond flavor. Whisk well. Dump the dry ingredients over the wet and fold together. Make sure there are no clumps.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for ~1 hour, or until surface of cake springs back when touched. Cool cake in pan for about 30 minutes, then flip onto a wire cooling rack, leaving pan over top for another 30 minutes. Remove pan and let cool completely. Slice and serve!
Recipe Notes
Talk about a decadent yet guilt free dessert! This Whole Orange Almond Cake is an incredibly healthy breakfast, snack and/or dessert.
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
I truly love your blog and your recipes! What might you recommend to replace oat flour if you’re on a grain/gluten free diet? Might coconut flour work the same? Or more almond flour? I’m just starting out on this eating healthy/Paleo lifestyle so I don’t know all the little tricks of the flours just yet. Thanks!
Thanks! I haven’t tried this recipe with other flours but you can try using sorghum flour, hazelnut flour or more almond flour 🙂
Ever creative, Jessica 🙂 Omnomnom.
Question – how do you think erythritol compares to xylitol and stevia-based sweeteners? Especially with the latter, I find it difficult to bulk up recipes. What’s your solution?
Mila-
I have never used xylitol or sweeteners like it, but as long as it measures cup-for-cup like sugar, it should work. Many xylitol brands do nowadays.
Oh my Jessica, I could eat this whole cake at once I think. I’m crazy for anything ‘orange’ and cake….especially when it’s guilt free 🙂 I may have to drizzle some dark chocolate on top though. Wonderful idea!
Mmmm the chocolate drizzle sounds amazing, I can’t believe I never thought about that (shame on me)!!
this looks amazing. I can tell from the picture that it has that moist texture I like.
Thanks Shannon! It’s super moist, dense and awesomely delicious 😉
Ooh, I need to make this soon. My mom makes this orange cake from this chef named Christy Jordan (who uses so much oil, butter, and sugar in her recipes it isn’t even funny) and now I can show her that delicious orange cake with REAL oranges, not artifically-flavored processed crap!
Caroline-
Thanks! If your mother is used to the intense orange flavor of the typical sugary cakes, feel free to add 1 tsp of orange oil or 1/2 tsp orange extract. This isn’t the kind of cake that slaps you in the face with sugar or medicinal-tasting flavorings 😉 I hope you guys like it!
-Jess
I’ll definitely try the orange extract… I need to stock up on extracts anyway before the winter baking season gets here! 🙂
I forgot to comment after trying it! *derp.* Anyways, we all loved it with the orange extract and my homemade almond and oat flours! I also may have had multiple slices as one dessert… 🙂
Yay I’m so glad you liked it! And the cake is so healthy, it’s basically a REQUIREMENT to grab an extra slice 😉
Beautiful and delicious looking as usual! 🙂 But geez Jessica, just how many cakes do you actually bake in a week to come up with so many awesome recipes?
Thanks Sonia! I actually baked this cake a few weeks ago but just got around to posting the recipe now 😉
It’s crazy though, I have an 8-page Word document of recipe ideas, recipes I’ve bookmarked, recipes I’ve already created and am waiting for a chance to make, and recipes that I’ve already made but need improvement… it’s like a giant baking to-do list, except this is actually a FUN to-do list!
I’m guessing, since they’re not beaten into a froth, that the recipe calls for egg whites instead of whole eggs in order to reduce fat and calories?
Would you think that the cake would work as well with vegan egg replacers?
It looks fabulous!
I used egg whites instead of whole eggs to keep the recipe cholesterol free, as my family has high cholesterol. Egg yolks can be healthy in moderation, yet my parents still refuse to eat them.
I’ve tried this recipe using flax eggs, but sadly, I didn’t get a very good result :/ It was very heavy, dense and lumpy. It didn’t rise and wasn’t very appealing to look at either 🙁
You can try making the recipe vegan by using 1/2 cup of flax eggs, 1/2 cup of Ener-G egg replacer “eggs” and increase the baking powder to 1 tablespoon. Just note that the flavor of the cake will change, but you can always drizzle the slices with agave or spread orange fruit spread on them!
Hope this works out for you, tell me if it does!
-Jess 🙂
Such a great, healthy recipe for those with a sweet tooth 🙂
This Is a very intresting recipe, favorited.. Will try soon
So pretty. I’ve heard this recipe from my roommate’s sister and I guess I should really try it. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I almost forgot trying this one.
Yummy, I have to try this!
This cake looks absolutely devine! I bet it tasted fantastic as well 🙂
Chloe & Sarah
I LOVE reading your blog! Everything looks so yummy and healthy! I don’t have almond flour…do you think I can use regular flour for the same moist dense results? Thanks!
Hi there! Almond flour is a key ingredient. You can probably use hazelnut flour or other nut meal, but I have only made this cake with almond flour+oat flour. You don’t need to buy almond flour if you don’t want to, you can just pulse a bunch of almonds until flour-like in your blender or food processor 🙂
I made you cake last week as my both sons are amateur boxers and need to keep weight, so food in our house is extremely healthy. It was fantastic to be able to eat a nice moist cake with hardly any calories. A million THANK YOU’s is not enough! regards Diane , Sydney Australia
Diane-
I’m so glad you made my cake! I hope your sons do well in boxing, tell them good luck for me 🙂
-Jess
This looks amazing but I do have a question. You wrote that your oranges were 10″ in diameter. Where in the world do you find an orange that is 10 inches in diameter?
OMG silly me, I meant 10″ in CIRCUMFERENCE! *smacks self in head*
Sorry for the confusion, I must have forgotten my coffee that day…
Hi, 1st i absolutely love this cake!
BUT, I live in the u.k and find it hard to find lots of your ingredients, found it all for this reciepe but the dry sweetener must be stronger than yours. So this is a WARNING for anyone that lives in the uk and want to make this cake,next time I will only use a 1/4 of the amount of sweetener, yes a 1/4, it was so so sweet with the horrible after taste of sweeteners. I will also try again with purée raspberrys instead of orange to give it that bake well tart flavour .
It was a really nice cake though and defiantly will be making again.
I am glad you liked the cake but I am so sorry the sweetener was too strong! Erythritol is almost just as sweet as white sugar, so I hope you didn’t get a sweetener that is twice as sweet as sugar (like Truvia’s baking blend, some varieties of Splenda, etc)
Pureed raspberries sounds amazing! I hope that works, make sure to strain the seeds out though because they can make a cake taste bitter. Also, the other day I made a cake with raspberry puree and there were so many seeds it got stuck in everyone’s teeth! D:
Anyways, thank you so much for the feedback 🙂
-Jess
Hi jess, yes I did use a sweetener that is a lot stronger than sugar( just read the label ! Lol )
Can’t wait to try raspberrys , hopefully this weekend, I will let you know, and thanks for tip about the seeds x
Jane.
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A quick question for you – would you consider sugar “a dry sweetner”?
Yes, sugar is a dry sweetener. Liquid sweeteners are like honey, agave, maple syrup etc 🙂
This looks amazing! Could it be made with lemons? If so how many do you think?
Yes! You can definitely use lemons if you like (I used lemons to make this Whole Lemon Pistachio Cake), and I would recommend boiling about 5.
Hi. I have a question. Do you puree the oranges with the peel on or off?
Is im using granulated splenda I use half amount of sweetner?
Thnx
You puree the oranges with the peel on… I know, it sounds strange but it adds a lot of flavor, moisture and fiber. Just make sure that when you cut the orange into quarters before blending, that you remove the seeds (this will make the cake really bitter)
As for the Splenda, I have not tried this cake with that sweetener. If it measures cup-for-cup like sugar, then it will be an equal replacement (so you would use 1 cup)
I hope you love the recipe!!
-Jess
This cake sounds like one I would love.
I dont get what went wrong but after 28 minutes in the oven i started to get burnt so i left it there a little bit but then i was forced to take it out. It actually doesnt look soft or moist but low and crispy..
Hmmm that’s very strange. Did you make any substitutions to the recipe? And did you cook the oranges according to the instructions? The cake should not be crispy at all…
-Jess
I definitely want to give this cake a try. I love orange flavor in a cake but I am FAR more interested in this recipe for its gluten free qualities than I am for any sugar free. I already spend a complete fortune on gluten free flours and other ingredients, the last thing I want to do is start buying sugar substitutes. Can I put back the ordinary granulated sugar in this recipe and what would the measurement be? Sugar substitutes are something I’ve never owned and never used, even as a cake baker and decorator. I just have no call for them. I haven’t a clue how they equate to regular sugar measurements. Thanks!
Erythritol substitutes for sugar at a 1:1 ratio, so you can use the same amount of sugar 🙂
Hope you like the cake!
-Jess
Can you use whole eggs in this and however many equal 1 cup? My family doesn’t have any cholesterol issues and I prefer to have the protein boost, when possible.
Thanks!
I haven’t tried whole eggs in this recipe but feel free to give it a try! Egg whites help provide lift in the cake, so using whole eggs might make it a bit more dense. It depends on what size eggs you use, so just crack whole eggs into a 1 cup measuring cup. For large eggs, it should be ~3-4 😀
-Jess
Definitely going to make this! 🙂
Hello, you cake looks so yummy. However; I can’t do sugar at all, can substitute with honey?
Thank u
Erythritol is all-natural and sugar-free, so you should be fine! I haven’t tried honey so I can’t be sure if that’ll work or not. If you’re up for some recipe testing, you can try swapping out the erythritol for honey 🙂
This looks delicious! Planning on making it for my family’s Christmas dinner. I’d like to add in some baking spices (cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg) to get a mulled wine (minus the wine) flavor. Since this cake looks so dense, do you think it’ll make a big difference if I just add the spices and don’t subtract their weight from the flour? Or should I remove some flour from the recipe? Thanks in advance for your help!
Genius idea with the added spices Carla! I don’t think adding spices will make a big difference in the overall texture of the cake, so I wouldn’t reduce the amount of flour. I hope you like the recipe! 🙂
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Hi!
This recipe looks amazing, I am curious If the cake would turn out ok if I were to skip the boiling process for the oranges? and if I can sub the erythol for more flour or something else?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried this cake without boiling the oranges… but I wouldn’t recommend skipping that step.
And no, you can’t replace the erythritol with flour. It’s a sweetener, and without it the cake will be bitter.
I’ve gathered all the ingredients for this cake (it will be the first cake recipe of yours I’ve tried, yay!) and I’m salivating to try it. Just one question – is there a reason that you recommend real egg whites over the carton kind? I want to ensure the best outcome possible, so just wanted to understand the difference.
Thank you!
Yay!! So excited for you to try the cake 🙂
Cartoned egg whites are processed a little bit so it’s more watery in texture and doesn’t provide much “lift” in baking compared to fresh egg whites.
Thanks for that useful tip, Jessica. I followed your recipe, which was super simple. However, I think I must’ve pulverized the orange when I blended it because mine didn’t have the orange flecks like your picture did 🙁
Still, the cake turned out well and I loved the moist texture and orange flavor of the cake. Next time I may add a touch more sugar for my own tastes. Also, I noticed that you did not include salt into your recipe, should it be included? I added a small pinch myself, since I know it’s supposed to bring out the sweetness in baked desserts, but wanted to confirm if that was the correct thing to do.
This was very good! I subbed in mandarins for the oranges and stevia for the erythritol and it turned out tasty, though my macros were a lot higher than what you have provided. 1/10 recipe — 380 cal – 59.4c, 11.6f, 9p
Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it.