Apparently, I’m now a professional stay at home baker. I have baked more in the past month than I normally do in a year. This week, it was this Easy Almond Cake. Twice.
This Easy Almond Cake is perfect for Passover or Easter. Or, Tuesday.
Nut based cakes are traditional for Passover, when regular flours are off the table (and out of the kitchen completely in observant homes). This means that lots of paleo desserts are naturally kosher for Passover, and vice versa!
This easy almond cake uses only 4 main ingredients, and there’s a chance you have them already. If you don’t have an orange lying around, you can sub lemon. Since lemons are more tart, you might want to adjust the sugar a bit. I would still use just one lemon, even though you’ll get less zest than you will from one orange, since lemon zest is stronger in flavor.
If you don’t have sliced almonds, you can skip those, too. This cake is simple and beautiful as is, or you can dust it with powdered sugar before serving. Or: A dollop of whipped cream. If dessert isn’t dessert without chocolate to you, it’s also extraordinary with chocolate ganache as frosting.
The only marginally tricky thing about making this cake is folding in the egg whites, which you want to remain fluffy after being incorporated. The way I like to do this? Mix in a small amount to loosen up the batter first. At this point you don’t have to be gentle. And then once the batter is looser, you can take your time folding in the rest. Resist the urge to over mix!
Looking for more simple sweets? Here are some of my favorites:
Fig & Almond Cake
Clafoutis
Coconut Maple Panna Cotta
Plum Torte
Easy Almond Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 1 9-inch cake, 8 slices
- Category: passover
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: French
Description
Quite possibly the easiest cake you’ll ever make, and it’s naturally gluten and dairy-free.
Ingredients
- oil or cooking spray for greasing the pan
- 4 eggs, white and yolks separated
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- zest of one small orange
- 1/4 cup orange juice (should be what you get from one small orange)
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup raw sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan. Insert a parchment circle into the bottom and lightly grease that too.
- Using a stand mixer or large bowl with hand beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- In another large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, orange zest, and orange juice.
- Stir in the almond flour and a pinch of salt.
- Once the egg whites are beaten, stir in about 1/4 of them to the almond mixture. Once well mixed, gently fold in the rest, doing your best to not over mix.
- Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the sliced almonds. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until it’s golden brown, and bounces back when you lightly push it in the center.
- Allow to cool, and run a sharp knife around the perimeter of the cake before removing the sides of the pan.
- Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.
Notes
If you don’t have an orange, you can sub the zest of one lemon and whatever juice you get from it. You may need to adjust the sugar since lemons are more tart than oranges.
I haven’t tried it so can’t say for sure, but coconut sugar should work well as a sub for cane sugar.
Keywords: almond cake, orange almond cake
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Julia says
Could you substitute coconut flour , tapioca flour air arrowroot flour for the almond flour?
zenbelly says
Nope. Then it would be coconut cake, or tapioca cake, or arrowroot cake, I have no idea if the recipe would work because I didn’t try it with any of those things. Almond flour is the main ingredient, and is what makes this recipe work. The only thing I can say would likely work would be another ground up nut. If you have a nut allergy, I’d recommend finding a recipe that doesn’t have almond in the title and as the main ingredient.
Neeta says
I make a very similar cake, using 1/3 c acacia honey ( am sure coconut sugar would work just as well) instead of the granulated sugar, also adding 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. This is a beautiful cake, and has an almost sensuous velvety texture, a must try!!
★★★★★
Selene Vega says
I did not have enough almond flour, so ground about half the required amount in my Vitamix from whole almonds. Pulled out the larger chunks, and used those for the topping. Delicious!
zenbelly says
excellent improvisation! So glad you loved it 🙂
Annabelle says
I do one similar except i add rosewater, almond extract, and chocolate chunks from Hu Kitchen chocolate . I also use coconut sugar. Im thinking to try your cake! I like tge more almond focus! I have been baking so much since I have been home. Cookies have been going down in my house!! I love your creativity and your recipes! They are all great! Super inspired, thank you!
★★★★★
Cindy says
Excellent recipe. Very light and tasty!
★★★★★
Christy says
Made it and loved it! Only had lemon in these quarantine days and still amazing. I’m going to make another and wonder if double the recipe and cooking for longer would be a mistake? Maybe I should just make 2. I only have 1 spring form pan so looking to shortcut my way to a slightly taller cake.
zenbelly says
So glad you loved it! It might work doubled if your spring form pan is larger than stated in the recipe, otherwise, it could take too long too cook and get darker than you want on the outside before the inside is done. You can use other types of pans, though!
Alma Munksgaard says
If you re not a fan of almonds or almond flavor, we can still be friends because that means I don t have to share my bear claw. This easy almond cake recipe requires only six ingredients and a few minutes of prep. Almond cake is the perfect party dessert!
Jeanette says
It is delicious and so quick to make, I really enjoyed it. I calculated that is it around 230 calories a slice, which isn’t bad at all! Nice light dessert! Thanks!!
★★★★★
zenbelly says
Thanks for doing those calculations! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Arianne says
So delicious that I made it twice in one week because It didn’t last long after taking it out of the oven the first time.
The second time, I didn’t have enough eggs! So I attempted subbing the missing egg with a “flax egg” and it worked out! It didn’t change the consistency much, still fluffy, still delicious! I wouldn’t recommend subbing all eggs for flax since it would change the cake completely, I just wanted to share my amusing story 🙂 thanks for the delicious recipe. It will be made often and will be brought to many doorsteps
zenbelly says
Thanks, Arianne! So glad to hear it worked with one flax egg sub. You’ve got some lucky neighbors!
Melissa Hathuc says
Do I have to have a spring form pan?
★★★★★
zenbelly says
It will bake just fine in any pan, the spring form just makes it easier to remove. Just grease the sides really well.
Katie says
Have you ever tried freezing this cake? I would like to make it for Xmas dinner, and would love to be able to do it in advance! Thank you!
zenbelly says
I have not… I’m guessing it will be okay, but I can’t say for sure without trying it. I know it stays well for a day or two tightly wrapped.
Anne says
Hello, is almond meal the same as almond flour? I have almond meal in the cupboard, do you think it would work in your recipe? Thanks.
zenbelly says
Hi Anne! Almond meal is a coarser grind than almond flour and isn’t the best for certain almond flour recipes, but works just fine in this one, so use what you’ve got! I hope you love it 🙂
Gabrielle says
I made this last night and really enjoyed it– light-textured, flavorful, and moist. I added a handful of chocolate chips to the batter, because I am a sucker for chocolate + orange.
I wandered off while the egg whites were in the mixer, and ended up over-beating them a bit (“dry” peaks)– still turned out great, even with my inattention. I’ll definitely be making this quick, tasty, and flexible cake again.
★★★★★
Jade says
Just made this and it turned out beautifully, the company that was over couldn’t believe how easy the recipe was. I followed the directions to a T and came out perfect. I did use a glass pie plate because that was all I had and no complaints whatsoever on how it turned out. Will make again, and again!
★★★★★
Maria says
Hi,could i use monk fruit as a substitute for sugar?
Thank you in advance for your response!
zenbelly says
Sure! I can’t say how it will work without trying it, but if you’ve subbed it successfully in other recipes it’s worth a shot.
Ellen Feldman Ornato says
I loved the flavor but it was a bit dry. I doubled the recipe, so maybe that’s why. Any suggestions?
zenbelly says
That’s probably why, more volume = longer bake time. It’s never come out dry for me when I’ve made it according to the recipe.
Brian says
5 stars all the way! I made this cake for Passover a few weeks ago (it’s perfectly kosher without the powdered sugar). It was such a hit I was asked to make it for family dinner tonight. It’s in the oven right now, I can’t wait!
I’m also trying to learn new baking techniques and this was a good intro into “folding”. I’m no longer scared of that lol!
Thank you for a delicious, easy, and impressive recipe! This one is going into regular rotation!
★★★★★
Ginny says
Hi. I see that the recipe doesn’t call for butter or oil. Does it still turn out fluffy and soft?
Thanks
Ginny
zenbelly says
Hi Ginny. Yup! The fluffiness comes from aerating the egg whites. It’s a very common method of cake baking.
mg says
I did a google search for a gluten free, dairy free dessert recipe, because I wanted to make a dessert my friend who has food sensitivities could eat. I’m so glad I found this!! Everyone loved it yesterday, and I’m making another one today just because it was so delicious and easy. Thanks for this great recipe!
★★★★★
mg says
I will add that I didn’t have quite a half cup of juice from my small orange, so I juiced another one until I got to the half cup. I think without the full amount of liquid, it may have been too dry. Also, I added a splash of almond extract into the juice because I love almond flavor so much.
Gina Soobratee says
Can I use Gluten Free flour instead of the Almond Flour?
zenbelly says
For the… almond cake? Gina I have no way of answering that because I developed the recipe using almond flour and couldn’t possibly know how it will turn out when swapping the main ingredient with a completely different ingredient.
Kerri says
I’m making this delicious and easy recipe for the second time — thank you so much for sharing it. It will become an easy DF/GF dessert in my house. I DID add 1/4 tsp of almond extract bc I love the flavor. I also made a fruit coulee for the top.
One question: if I had more people to feed, would you recommend doubling it or two layers?
★★★★
zenbelly says
Thanks, Kerri. I’m so glad you like it. You could definitely make a layer cake out if it if you want, but I wouldn’t make one thicker cake, since it won’t bake properly. I make a giant strawberry shortcake with this and it’s fantastic, and could be layered with just about anything.