Keto Orange Cake (Almond Flour)

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This moist keto orange cake is made with almond flour and whole oranges - skins and all. It is low carb, gluten-free, dairy-free and sweetened with stevia.

Orange almond loaf cake with 2 slices cut off.

I am totally in love with this flourless almond and orange cake!

Traditional orange cakes are normally very high in carbs, because they contain a lot of sugars due to the high fructose content. There's the table sugar, the sugar in the orange juice and of course, the sugars from the starch in the wheat flour.

The cool thing about this cake is that contains ALL of the orange, flesh and skin. You simply cook your oranges in water for 1 hour until they are nice and soft. This also makes the skin taste less bitter. Then you puree the whole orange until you have a fragrant, tasty pulp. You are literally using all of the fibre an orange has to offer, which slows the absorption of the sugar in the fruit. And you get all the taste.

On top of that, this is an almond flour orange cake. So, instead of wheat, we're using almond flour.

With my recipe, you can enjoy a slice of keto orange cake that will keep you on plan at only 3.5g net carbs per slice.

I have made a keto banana bread that won't kick you out of ketosis - with REAL banana. The same goes for thissugar free" orange cake!

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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
Recipe FAQs
Serving Suggestion
Storage
More Keto Orange Recipes
More Sugar Free Cake Recipes
Recipe

🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe

Fluffy, light texture
Fragrant orange flavor
Gluten-free
Dairy-free
Low carb and keto-friendly

A rectangular loaf cake topped with almonds and halved oranges on the side.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Almond flour - I used ground almonds, which is equivalent to regular almond flour. For super-fine almond flour, reduce by 25 grams or ¼ cup.
Oranges - unwaxed, washed. Juicing oranges are ideal. See more details below.
Eggs - should be room temperature.
Baking powder
Orange extract
Vanilla bean powder or vanilla extract
Cardamom
Vanilla stevia - or your sugar substitute of choice. I have used only 16 drops of liquid vanilla stevia in this recipe. This amount is equivalent to 4 teaspoons of sugar. If you don't have stevia, you can use xylitol or erythritol instead. Increase the sweetness to your liking.

Which Oranges To Choose

Oranges differ greatly, depending on variety and time of year. Some are very sweet, some less so. Some have thick skins, some have thin ones. That's why you should always taste the batter and adjust the sweetness if needed.

My oranges were VERY sweet and had a surprisingly thin skin. A thick-skinned orange will result in a more bitter batter.

If your oranges DO have a thicker skin, you can cut off the top and bottom before blending.

Instructions

Let's make a sugar free almond flour orange cake! Here are the basic steps.

Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed method with ingredient amounts, timings and nutrition info.

Step 1: Put the oranges into a pot filled with cold water and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil, then simmer for at least 1 hour. Make sure the oranges are always submerged. This removes the bitterness. Drain and let cool.

Blended orange pulp in a food processor bowl.

Step 2: Cut the oranges in half and remove any seeds, then puree in a food processor or with a stick blender.

Adding eggs, almond flour and slices to the pulp mixture.

Step 3: Separate the eggs. In a large mixing bowl, combine the orange pulp with all ingredients except the egg whites. I used a spatula to do this.

Step 4: Now, whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form.

Adding whipped egg whites to the cake batter.

Step 5: Fold the egg whites into the cake batter. This will make the cake lighter in texture.

Orange cake batter in a rectangular pan lined with parchment paper.

Step 6: Pour the batter into your cake tin and sprinkle flaked almonds on top.

Baked orange cake topped with sliced almonds in a rectangular cake pan.

Step 7: Bake in the oven until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Katrin's Top Tip

Separating the eggs and beating the egg whites to stiff peaks is essential for a light and fluffy cake texture. Don't miss this step.

Recipe FAQs

Are oranges keto friendly?

Oranges are relatively high in carbs and the internet will tell you that it is NOT a keto friendly fruit. One medium orange contains 12 grams of net carbs. However, it will always depend on the AMOUNT of orange (or any other fruit) you eat. I would definitely NOT eat an entire orange in one go. But eating ⅙ of an orange including the skin, as you would with this cake, is perfectly low in carbs!

Is orange juice keto?

You should not drink orange juice on a keto diet. or on a low carb diet. It's all the sugar from the orange, without any of the fibre! Think about it - you need to juice at least 3 oranges for a full glass of orange juice. That's 36 grams of net carbs. On a keto diet you generally eat between 20 to 30 net carbs per day. So, orange juice is NOT keto!

Does this recipe work with other citrus?

Yes. You can use tangerines, lemons or even grapefruit. Note that you will have to adjust the amount of sweetener accordingly.

A slice or orange cake on a plate and halved oranges.

Serving Suggestion

I like to call this orange cake a "breakfast cake" because it is filling, nutritious and a great way to kickstart your day.

You can enjoy it as it is, or spread it with butter. It's great alongside an almond milk matcha latte, a cup of keto iced coffee or a refreshing glass of avocado milk.

But of course, nothing should stop you from having it as a dessert!