Orange, Almond and Raspberry Cake is a healthier cake recipe that’s perfect for afternoon tea. Made with whole oranges, honey, almond meal and lots of raspberries, the cake is gluten free and dairy free.
Published April 2015 | Updated March 2021 | Images by Create Cook Share
We have had some of the most rainy weather ever in Sydney, so what better time to update my very, very old blog post for this pretty little Orange, Almond and Raspberry Cake! There’s nothing like a hot cup of tea and a slice of cake in this autumnal weather.
My favourite thing about this recipe is that this beautiful cake uses up whole oranges without any waste – yes you use the whole thing! They are boiled whole until soft, and then you blend them into the batter. Less fuss and no waste. The oranges help to keep the cake beautifully moist and they give it a bright and sunny colour too. Just what I need when the weather turns grey and stormy.
What you need to make my orange, almond and raspberry cake
This is a gluten and grain free cake. It is made using almond meal and coconut flour as the base, which means that it is quite dense and not fluffy like a sponge cake.
The ingredients are set out below, together with notes on substitutions you can make.
- Almond meal – as in, ground almonds. You can use either skin on or skin off almonds. *Sometimes this is called almond flour, but then on the flip side, in some countries like the US I’m aware you can also buy very finely milled almond “flour” which is actually different to almond meal. I guess the safe bet is to use a product called “almond meal” wherever you are!
- Coconut flour – this is a very uniquely absorbent flour. If you do not want to use coconut flour and you want to substitute another flour, please note you will likely need to increase the quantity of the substitute. If swapping to plain flour you will need somewhere between 3/4 to 1 full cup.
- Oranges
- Raspberries – I recommend using frozen as they are easier to use in baking (can substitute frozen blueberries if you prefer them!)
- Eggs – I have not tried to make this egg free unfortunately. I find it difficult to make egg-free recipes with coconut flour, so I don’t recommend trying this recipe without eggs.
- Honey (can substitute maple syrup)
- Coconut oil (can substitute butter or olive oil)
- Cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract
- Baking powder, bicarb soda and a pinch of salt!
You can start making this cake ahead of time. The oranges take quite a bit of time to boil (around 90 minutes), so you might like to do this at an earlier time and pop them in the fridge until you’re ready to make the cake. If you do this, drain the oranges from the water, put them in an airtight container, and then store them in the fridge (up to 2 days in advance).
The cake also freezes well! It doesn’t require icing so you don’t have to worry about that. Simply slice and store in an airtight container, separating the slices with baking paper. Thaw slices at room temperature or gently reheat in the microwave.
I hope you enjoy this simple, vibrant and delicious Orange, Almond and Raspberry Cake. If you make it, let me know by commenting below, or take a snap and tag @moniquecormacknutrition on Instagram so I can check out your cake!
p.s. In the mood for more baking with fruit? Try my Berry, Lemon and Yoghurt Loaf (made with oats) or my Wholesome Hummingbird Cake (one of my personal favourites!)
Orange, Almond and Raspberry Cake
Ingredients
- 2 oranges
- 1 cup raspberries – I usually use frozen
- 1 and 1/2 cups almond meal
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder (gluten free)
- 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp coconut oil measured melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place whole oranges in a small saucepan and cover with water; boil for approximately 90 minutes or until soft. Remove from water and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 180 C and line a baking tin with baking paper (I used a 23cm square tin).
- Place oranges in food processor and blend until smooth. Add in eggs, vanilla, honey and coconut oil and blend again until smooth.
- In a large bowl combine the almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder and salt.
- Pour the wet mixture in to the dry mixture and combine.
- Scoop the batter into your lined baking tin and smooth out evenly. Scatter raspberries over the top and press in so they are about half-submerged.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes* or until deep golden brown on top and firm to touch. Allow to cool before slicing.
Notes
Hi!
Does this freeze well?
Megan
Hi Megan, yes you can definitely freeze this! 🙂
Sounds amazing! Do you process the whole oranges? Skin and all?
Yes just process the whole orange, with the skin! I first started doing this when making Christmas fruit cakes and it works really well! 🙂
Just stopping by to say thank you for a great recipe. It’s one really tasty cake! I tweaked it a bit to suit me better. It seems to be a very forgiving recipe! I ground half-half almonds and sunflower seeds (to make it a bit cheaper) to reach 3/4 cup, and the rest I put some oat and rice flours, to reach about 1 1/3 cup total, since I was gonna use just 3 eggs. I also added some cardamom, cause it seems to pair excellent with oranges. And olive oil works ok here. Btw, next time I’m gonna put some more raspberries and put them into the batter; I hope that works because just on top they seemed to get really dry, and it’s such a pity since their taste plays along beautifully with the oranges.
Hi Tea, thank you so very much for leaving such a detailed comment, I really appreciate it! I’m glad you were able to make this work with the flour substitutes, it’s great to use up what you have handy. Thanks also for the tip on the raspberries – I should edit the recipe and mention that I do push my raspberries down in to the cake a bit so they’re not perched right up on top, because I agree it does dry them out a bit if they’re completely exposed 🙂
p.s. I love cardamom too, great idea to add some!