Think of this Almond Orange Cake as the Christmas miracle you’ve been waiting for: it’s truly the easiest cake we know. It only has 6 ingredients, is deliciously dense and moist, tastes even better after a few days, and when drizzled with a simple orange glaze, looks positively festive.
You’ll be surprised when you read through the recipe and find out what gives the cake its deep, complex flavor and dense, moist texture: 2 whole oranges, skin and all. (Pause for shock recovery). We were thrown off by that, too. We were convinced that the pith from the orange skins would make the cake too bitter to eat. But, what we found was quite the opposite. The cake has a deep, sweet (not bitter) orange flavor, that makes a nice foil for the nutty almond flour. Here’s why: before being added to the cake batter, the oranges are boiled whole for 2 hours. This hot bubble bath gives the oranges’ skins time to release their bitterness and deposit it into the boiling water, leaving a flavor that can only be described as “the essence of orangeness.” Plus, the heat makes the juice inside of the oranges taste cooked and sweet.
Once the oranges are boiled, they’re halved, de-seeded and blitzed in a blender or food processor along with the eggs, sugar, almond flour and baking powder and then baked into a nicely browned cake. The simple orange glaze adds a glistening white cap to the cake and makes it look super wintery, sophisticated and festive at the dessert table.
- 2 medium oranges
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 2¼ cups blanched almond flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. orange zest, 2 tbsp. orange juice, from 1 orange, zested and juiced
- ¾ cup confectioners sugar
- In medium pot, add oranges and enough cool water to cover by 2”. Bring water to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer, uncovered, until thin knife inserted into orange skin shows no resistance, about 2 hours. Transfer oranges to cutting board; let sit until cool enough to handle. Halve oranges, remove seeds.
- Heat oven to 375℉. Grease 9” round cake pan (we used coconut oil, but butter or non-stick baking spray will do just fine) and set in refrigerator.
- Transfer orange halves (skin, fruit and all) to high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until oranges are almost smooth, about 30 seconds. Add eggs, sugar, almond flour and baking powder to blender with oranges; blend until just combined. Scrape down sides of blender bowl and re-blend to combine.
- Transfer cake batter to prepared cake pan. Bake until thin knife inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Set cake in pan on cooling rack until cool.
- While cake cools, make the glaze. Add orange zest and orange juice to medium bowl. Using fine-mesh colander, sift about a quarter of confectioners sugar into bowl. Using whisk, whisk until smooth. Repeat 3 more times until sugar is completely combined with juice and creates a thick, smooth glaze.
- Loosen cake by running think knife around edges of pan. Invert cake onto plate, then re-invert onto cake stand. Drizzle with glaze. Serve.
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