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Simple vegan orange cake dusted with icing sugar on plate with a few slices coming out showing beautiful orange hue
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4.91 from 96 votes

Vegan Whole Orange Cake

Vegan orange cake using a WHOLE orange including the rind just like the classic Sicilian orange cake. Made with only 5 ingredients and is also gluten-free, oil-free, eggless and flourless! The cake has a complex orange flavor, sweet, dense and only very slightly bitter.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Cuisine: Italian-inspired, Middle-Eastern, Moroccan-inspired, Vegan
Servings: 12
Author: Anthea

Ingredients

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

Serving: 1 serve | Calories: 202kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Sodium: 110mg | Potassium: 109mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 47IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you Make this Recipe?Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @rainbownourishments on Instagram and hashtag #rainbownourishments!