Vegan orange cake using a WHOLE orange including the rind. It's made with only 5 ingredients and is also gluten-free, oil-free, eggless and flourless!
What's a whole orange cake?
A whole orange cake has origins in Sicily, Morocco and the Middle East. It's traditionally made with boiled whole oranges (with their rind and all) and often uses almond flour/meal rather than wheat flour.
Conventionally, a whole orange cake recipe uses up to 6 eggs and is not vegan (or easily veganizable). However, after vigorous testing, I found a way to make an eggless whole orange cake using common ingredients!
Why you'll love this cake
FLAVOR: Sweet, bursting with complex orange flavor, and slight bitter undertone. It tastes just like a non-vegan flourless orange almond cake.
TEXTURE: Moist and dense with a fine crumb. It's not meant to be fluffy like a sponge cake. The texture is like a rich fruit cake, moist French financier or friand.
CUSTOMIZABLE: For fruity variations of this cake, check out my vegan whole lemon cake or flourless strawberry cake. Or if you may prefer my flourless vegan chocolate cake or vegan almond cake.
5 ingredients you'll need
Notes about the ingredients
A whole orange, ideally organic as we're using the rind! I recommend using a sweet orange that has a thin skin otherwise your cake will be too bitter. The orange adds a lot of moisture to the cake so we don't need oil or butter.
I don't recommend replacing the orange with orange juice. A whole orange contains pulp, fiber and rind whereas orange juice is just liquid.
Regular granulated sugar. Coconut sugar will also work but it will make the cake denser and brown in color.
Potato starch (or corn starch). See the next section for why we need this!
Baking powder. I added a little extra to this cake to help the cake bake through. It also helps replace some of the lifting power normally provided by eggs in conventional whole orange cakes.
You'll also need water... but is that even an ingredient?!
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Why potato starch: the simple magical ingredient
Potato starch allows us to omit the eggs in this whole orange cake. You can also use corn starch (corn flour). Potato starch is not the same as potato flour or potato protein.
Potato starch has various functions in this recipe:
- It is a great binder and thickener (it's a common vegan egg substitute).
- It is a dry ingredient that adds structure. Unfortunately, chia eggs, flax eggs and aquafaba makes the cake TOO moist, dense and competes with the orange flavor.
- It is tasteless and colorless which allows the orange to shine!
Potato starch isn't a straightforward 1:1 egg replacer in a regular whole orange cake recipe. I had to reduce the liquid and increase the baking powder to make sure the final cake isn't too dense!
You can get potato and corn starch in some major supermarkets, health food stores and Asian specialty stores. In Asian stores, they are very affordable!
Preparing the whole orange
First, we need to boil a whole orange in water. Keep on the rind (or skin) but remove the 'stem' (if there is one). My orange weighed just over 250g but it doesn't matter if yours is 10g lighter or heavier.
The orange doesn't need to be completely submerged in water in your pot. There just needs to be enough water so the orange boils/steams! Your home will smell lovely when you cook your orange... I need to do it more often :).
When the orange is cooked, drain and discard all the water. Roughly chop the orange as it'll be easier to blend/process. And remove any seeds, if any!
Making the vegan orange cake
Use a food processor or stick blender to puree your orange (rind and all). The puree doesn't have to be extremely fine. Any small chunks will add texture to your vegan orange cake.
Next, add ALL the ingredients to the food processor and pulse until combined. The cake batter should be very thick, almost like a paste. If your batter is runnier, I'd recommend adding a little more potato starch.
Normally I wouldn't recommend using a food processor to mix cake batter as over-mixing can create a tough cake. However, gluten is the culprit of tough cakes and this cake is gluten-free so we don't have to worry about over-mixing!
If you don't have a food processor, add your orange puree and all other ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir using a spatula or spoon. The batter will be too thick for a hand whisk.
Scoop (or pour) the thick batter into your cake tin. The surface will be a little rough so just smooth it out using a spatula or spoon.
Tip: If your batter is sticking too much to your spoon, dip your spoon in water and try again!
Tips for baking the cake
The whole orange cake has a high amount of almond flour so we need to bake it at a lower temperature. Nuts tend to burn quickly so a lower temperature prevents this from happening!
The cake is ready when it is slightly golden brown on top. If you can insert a toothpick into the middle and it comes out mostly clean (a few crumbs are fine). The cake won't rise much at all.
If you have an overly hot oven, your flourless orange almond cake might turn golden brown before it's baked inside. If so, turn down the heat of your oven AND place an oven-safe plate on top of your cake tin (as long as it doesn't touch the cake).
When you remove the cake from the oven, let it cool in the cake pan as it'll be very delicate. The cake will firm up a lot when it cools.
Serving the cake
This eggless orange cake is perfect for morning tea or with your daily coffee! It is delicious with a simple dusting of powdered sugar or can be served with:
- thick dairy-free yogurt
- dairy-free cream or ice cream
- slices of fresh oranges or candied orange peel
If you want to bring this cake to a celebration, you can top the cake with beautiful rose petals and pistachios!
I think the cake is already sweet enough but if you would like to decorate it, I recommend topping it with yogurt. Or make a simple sugar icing such as the one in my lemon pistachio cake (use orange juice instead of lemon to make an orange glaze). I'd say that buttercream is too sweet for this cake.
Ingredient substitutions and customizations
Almond flour is about 15% fat so we need to compensate for this if we replace it with flour. I recommend using a combination of all-purpose flour and neutral oil or light-tasting olive oil (quantities are listed in the notes of the recipe card below). The cake will be fluffier and have a more subtle orange flavor compared to the original.
I haven't tried this but it should work if you cut off the rind. Without boiling the orange, remove some of the orange zest then remove all of the flesh inside. Blend the orange zest with the flesh then use it in the recipe.
Yes either will work!
The cake itself is already full of complex flavor. However, you may add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon of cardamom powder or a pinch of salt.
More easy vegan cake recipes
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Vegan Whole Orange Cake
Ingredients
- 1 x (~250 g) medium-sized organic orange, with the rind still on
- 250 g (2 ½ cups) almond flour / blanched almond meal, (note 1)
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar, (note 2)
- 85 g (½ cup + 1 tablespoon) potato starch, or corn starch / corn flour (plus more if needed)
- 80 g (⅓ cup) water
- 3 heaped teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
- I recommend weighing the ingredients for this recipe rather than using the cups measurement. Like all of my recipes, this whole orange cake was tested using grams except the baking powder.
Preparing the orange:
- Thoroughly wash the skin of the orange and remove the stem, if it's still on. Add around 4 cups of water to a small saucepan and place the whole orange in it. Over medium heat, simmer the orange for 30 minutes until you can pierce the skin with no resistance. Drain the water and allow the orange to cool.
- Roughly chop the orange and remove any seeds. Place it in a food processor and process until it forms a paste. It's fine if there are little bits of rind in the paste.
Making the cake batter:
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Grease or line an 8-inch (20 cm) cake pan with parchment paper (Note 3).
- Add the rest of the cake ingredients to the food processor. Process until the mixture is combined and thick. If your batter is runnier, add 1 tablespoon (7g) of potato starch at a time and mix until it forms a thick batter. If in doubt, err towards a thicker batter rather than thinner batter. For this recipe, a thinner batter will make a denser cake.
- Scoop the cake batter into a your cake tin. Smooth the top with a spoon or spatula.
Baking the cake:
- Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes (Note 4). The cake is ready when a skewer can be inserted into the middle and there is no wet batter on it (some crumbs are fine). The cake isn't meant to rise much or flatten out but it will 'set'. Allow the cake to completely cool in the cake tin.
- To serve, dust the cake with powdered sugar (Note 5). Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- The total amount of almond flour can be substituted with 1 cup (125g) all purpose flour and ½ cup (125g) light-tasting oil. We have to add oil to compensate for the natural fats normally found in almond flour.
- This amount of sugar creates a mildly sweet cake. You can decrease the sugar to ½ cup (100g) but it will create a more dense cake that may be a little bitter.
- The cake bakes very well in muffin tins and can be divided into smaller cake tins, of course with different baking times. However, baking the whole quantity of the cake in a smaller tin (for example 15 cm or 7 inches) may cause 'dense streaks' throughout the cake.
- If your oven is too hot, your cake may be cooked on the outside but still unbaked inside. If so, turn down the oven temperature and cover the cake pan with an oven-safe plate, as long as it doesn't touch the cake.
- Alternatively, you can also:
- Drizzle a simple syrup on the cake. Combine ¼ cup (80g) orange juice and 2 tbsp of sugar in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Drizzle on the cake while it's warm.
- Top the cake with a simple icing, such as the one in this recipe (but substitute the lemon juice with orange juice). Wait until the cake is completely cool before you ice the cake.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in November 2017 and updated a few times since then. Vegan baking science has grown a lot over the years!
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Raji says
Made this cake for a friends birthday and she loved it so much she wanted the recipe! Thank you Anthea for a simple and well written recipe. Will be making this often!
Anthea says
Aw that's lovely Raji! So glad that all the instructions were clear for you too. Thank you so much!
Jane says
This came out so good and I cannot wait to make it again. The texture was perfect. I baked it in a slightly larger 24 cm round pan at 165 for 35-40 minutes. I used soy milk instead of water. Thoroughly enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike.
Anthea says
That's so wonderful to hear Jane! Thanks so much for your feedback!
Sophia Hass says
We're really happy with this recipe, I'm feeling very grateful because we would have kept fiddling around with nonvegan recipes but you saved us all the work! Thank you!
Anthea says
I'm so glad you enjoyed this cake! And it's absolutely my pleasure :). Thanks for your support x
Kristen says
I’ve been trying to start vegan baking and this is the first cake I’ve make that ended up with the right structure/texture. The flavor and color are also beautiful! Very excited to try more of your recipes.
Anthea says
That's amazing Kristen, especially as your first vegan cake! I hope you enjoy my other recipes too. Thanks so much for your lovely feedback 🙂
Dee says
Thanks for the lovely recipe! I followed the recipe and used Anthea’s guidelines + a comment left by a reviewer (Bruna A) to sub in AP flour as I didn’t have almond meal on hand. I reduced a cup of fresh orange juice with 2tbsp of sugar and applied it as glaze, it was like a very thin sticky layer of marmalade. The cake came out beautifully. The orange flavor shone through in every bite. We have a ton of navel oranges on our tree right now and I wanted to use them up. I’ll be making this often. I can’t wait to also try this with our Meyer lemons.
Anthea says
That sounds so so delicious Dee! I love the sound of your orange glaze - I'll have to try that next time. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!
Jane says
Delicious! I just made this wonderful cake today. It turned out perfectly! Thanks so very much for the recipe!
Anthea says
That's amazing Jane! Thanks so much for your comment!
Sara says
It came out too dense nd wet !!!! Taste great but texture really a failure. I measured everything exactly and done as written. So ... I feel very disappointed..i had guests ..
Anthea says
I'm sorry this didn't work for you! It's a reader favourite recipe and I've tested it successfully many times so I'd love to figure out what happened with your cake. A few questions:
1. Did you use the cups or grams measurement? I'd recommend grams for this recipe.
2. What was the texture of your batter? Was it like a paste or was it like regular cake batter?
3. Is there a chance your baking powder was too old? I find that old baking powder also makes the cake dense and wet.
There are so many factors which can lead to a failed cake. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
Rikki says
This cake is so delicious! I used Orange juice instead of the water and also substituted the almond flour like you said. I love that you always give different options for your recipes! I will definitely bake it again. Maybe with a chocolate glaze?
Anyway, thank you so much!
Anthea says
Oooh I love the idea of using orange juice instead of water! I think a chocolate glaze would complement the acidic tartness very well. Thanks so much for your feedback Rikki 🙂
Sue-Anne Bellamy says
Another great recipe, thank you! I wasn't sure how this would work out as I usually make an orange and almond cake that has heaps of eggs in it but this worked just as well and to be honest you couldn't tell the difference with this vegan whole orange cake. I loved that it catered to my vegan, gluten free and dairy free guests- ticking all the boxes!
Anthea says
Aw that's lovely Sue-Anne! It's great you couldn't tell the difference from a non-vegan whole orange cake too. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!
Andrea says
Delicious and simple, but super dense! Followed exactly as written, weighed ingredients, batter looked as pictured. The only difference was my orange as bigger than 250g.
Anthea says
Glad you enjoyed the flavour of this cake! Yes, using a bigger orange makes the cake more dense (speaking from experience). The cake is meant to have some crumb, almost like a French friand cake.
Tiffany says
This recipe is delicious! I recently had to adopt a low fat diet due to health issues and have been missing holiday baked goods. This was very easy to make and stays extremely moist. Be aware that the texture is almost like marzipan vs. light and fluffy. I topped mine with toasted sliced almonds sprinkled with powdered sugar, and had berries on the side. This cake pleases vegans and nonvegans alike. So good! I'll be making this again.
Sherilyn says
Hello , can we make this recipe with almond powder or ground almond?
Anthea says
Hi! Almond flour is just ground blanched almonds so yes! However, I'm not sure what almond powder is?
kate says
I have just tried this recipe and I can't recommend it enough, it tastes fur-nominal! And your photography is out of this world, I was wondering what camera and lens you use for your photos x
Anthea says
Aw thanks so much Kate, I'm so glad you enjoyed these! And I *love* the word 'fur-nominal', I need to use that :). For photos in the last year, I used a Canon R mirrorless with a 50mm lens. I hope that helps!
David Nunn says
I so wanted this to work, as I love whole orange and almond cake, and wanted a plant-based version! Unfortunately, whilst the flavour was fantastic, the texture was really solid. However, I'm not sure I used the correct flours. I always get confused by "almond flour", "ground almonds" and "almond meal". We in the UK call things by different names. I used ground almonds, which I have always used in the version with eggs, but maybe that was wrong? Similarly, I used "cornflour" which is not the same as "cornmeal", but I think is the same as "cornstarch". Despite the texture, we still ate it all, as it was delicious! Help!
Anthea says
Hey! I think Australians describe ingredients in the same way as the UK so it's likely you used the right ingredients. 'Almond flour' refers to ground up blanched almonds and is quite fine, but more coarse than regular wheat flour (just like the picture). And corn flour is the same as corn starch but not corn meal. Like the ingredients picture, it's a fine white floury substance :).
I find that the cake is more solid if too much liquid was measured or the baking powder used isn't as strong. Was your batter thick or thin? Did you weigh your ingredients or measure them using cups? Another factor is if the orange you used was too heavy as that adds too much liquid. I hope that helps!
David Nunn says
Thank you very much. I weighed all the ingredients, rather than using cups. The batter was very thick and, in fact, didn't seem to be enough for an 8 inch tin (so was quite a thin layer). I'll definitely try it again, as the flavour was so good! Maybe I was just unlucky the first time around.
Rachael says
Hi, I make a non-vegan version of this cake that uses olive oil. Could that be used instead of water in your recipe? Thanks!
Anthea says
It may work - I haven't tried so can't vouch for results. The cake is very very moist with just the water so I imagine it'd be even more moist with the oil!
Gamani says
This is an excellent recipe. I tried it once but I feel I added too much water! The cake was too moist as the Almond meal also became ‘soggy’ ( I think I should use Almond FLOUR as advised! ) So am going to try again with non dairy milk in the recommended volume. Also Almond flour.
Anthea says
Thank you! Yes, those ingredient changes can make the cake too moist! I'm sure when you make it again, the cake will be better :). Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Sunita says
Hi,
I’ve made the egg version of this cake. But would love to try this one because my husband is vegan.
Would tapioca starch or arrowroot powder work in place of potato starch?
Anthea says
Hey, I wouldn't recommend tapioca starch because it makes the cake 'chewy'. I haven't tried arrowroot powder for this recipe. However, I know that 85g of potato/corn starch can't be substituted 1:1 for arrowroot powder.
Graciely says
Lovely cake! I added cardamom and one table spoon of rose water to the recipe and it was like heaven! I really appreciate the effort you put to bring this recipe without eggs. Thank you!
Anthea says
That sounds so so lovely! I need to try that combination next time :). Thanks so much for your feedback x