This moist keto orange cake is made with almond flour and whole oranges - skins and all. It is low carb, gluten free and sweetened with stevia.
I am totally in love with this flourless almond and orange cake!
Can you have oranges on keto?
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 will eat. I would definitely NOT eat an entire orange in one go. But eating â…™ of an orange, as you would with this cake, is perfectly low in carbs!
Orange juice on keto
Note that you should never, ever drink orange juice on keto or on a low carb diet. It's basically 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!
A flourless almond 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 cake. So, instead of wheat, we're using almond flour (or ground almonds, as we say here in the UK).
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. That's because I'm using almond flour instead of wheat flour, a keto sweetener instead of sugar and WHOLE oranges instead of just orange juice.
I have made a keto banana bread that won't kick you out of ketosis - with REAL banana. The same goes for this "sugar free" orange cake!
How to make keto orange cake
Sugar Free Sweetener
I don't like my sweet dishes too sweet and 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.
Which oranges to choose
One important thing to note is that 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, therefore you might want to increase the sweetener to offset it.
If your oranges DO have a thicker skin, you can cut off the top and bottom before blending.
Almond Flour
This recipe is designed for ground almonds or coarser (regular) almond flour. If you want to use super-fine almond flour (the one that looks very similar to wheat flour) you would need less as it is more absorbent - about 2 cups plus 2 tbsp.
However, the amount of flour needed will also depend on the size of your oranges!
Separate the eggs
The other thing worth mentioning is separating your eggs and beating the egg whites until stiff peaks form. This might seem like a hassle, but it will result in a much lighter, fluffier cake texture. I'm actually doing this by hand with a whisk as I do not have a traditional mixer.
Don't attempt to whisk egg whites with a stick blender or in a food processor, by the way. I've tried. It does not work!
Lastly, I like to call this low carb orange almond cake a "breakfast cake" because it's exactly the kind of thing I like to eat when I feel all egged out. It is filling, nutritious and tastes great - just like my popular Grab & Go Low Carb Muffins or this moist sugar free banana bread, which are also made with ground almonds.
Nothing, NOTHING though should stop you from having your keto orange cake as a dessert. It certainly is perfect with a strong cup of coffee - any time of day.
More keto orange dessert recipes:
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Keto Orange Cake
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary. ***As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
- 250 g / 2 ½ cups almond flour to my UK readers - ground almonds are fine here
- 2 oranges unwaxed, washed
- 5 eggs separated
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon orange extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
- seeds of 6 cardamom pods crushed
- 16 drops liquid stevia equivalent to 3 teaspoon sweetener
- handful flaked almonds to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius/ 350 Fahrenheit.
- Line a rectangular bread baking tin with baking paper or use a well-greased silicone baking tin.
- 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 the water and let the oranges cool down.
- Cut the oranges in half and remove any seeds, then puree in a food processor or with a stick blender.
- Separate the eggs and whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. This will make the cake lighter in texture.
- Add all ingredients except the egg whites to the orange pulp and mix. Lastly, fold in the egg whites until well-combined.
- Make sure you test your batter for sweetness and adjust to taste.
- Pour the batter into your cake tin and sprinkle flaked almonds on top.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Valerie
Anyone tried adding sourdough starter/"discard" to add airiness? Might alleviate the need to whip the whites (in the interest of time only).
Raquel
Hi there!
Many many thanks for this recipe.
I tried it today since I wanted something with orange flavour. I added 3-4 tablespoons of honey since we do not use stevia. I also used 4 eggs instead of 5 and cinnamon instead of cardamom and it turned out delicious .
It is a very spongy and light cake! Almost gone! Me and my partner loved it so much that have shared the recipe with our mums already:)
Also, I sprinkled cinnamon on top and walnuts.
Gary
I haven’t had cake in a long while as I am trying to reverse type II diabetes. Just had a slice of this cake I baked today. It’s lovely, I really like it and it’s great to have some cake again.
Tracy
I’m so excited to have found wheat free sugar free sweet cakes and scones!! I haven’t made this yet however my oranges here are navel oranges quite large( almost the size of a large grapefruit) and thick skinned. Any advice on how I might need to adapt the recipe
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Tracy, my oranges were 10 centimetres in diameter so you would have to judge how many of your oranges you might need. The boiling softens the fibres in the oranges and also takes away the bitterness. Once your oranges have cooked, you could then not use all of the skins, for example, maybe only some of it. It would be an experiment. Alternatively, you could try the recipe with tangerines instead. These always have thin skins.
Rhonda
Hello! I'm so glad to have found your site! I'm anxious to try this!
I have a question about the amount of sugar being a number. Can you please share how that score is calculated? Thank so much!
Katrin Nürnberger
Thank you for pointing out the error. Fixed - the amount of natural sugars in the recipe is 2.5g per slice.
Mary
Would love to try this but am on a diet for candida. Could I use lemons instead of the oranges?
Katrin Nürnberger
I know that some readers have used a mix of orange and lemons. You may need to use more sweetener.
Valerie
Or grapefruit?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that may taste good too. Definitely more bitter though.
Lou Robinson
Hi, great sounding recipe! Are you using 5 large eggs, on the UK egg scale, which would be size extra large on the US egg scale? Please advise.
Thanks,
Lou
Katrin Nürnberger
Definitely don't use extra large eggs - I would go for large. This is an older recipe of mine, and back then I was using eggs from a local farm, which were a mix of medium and large. It also depends on how large your oranges are.
Sneha Epstein
Hi Katrin, could you please advise how long I'd bake this for if I used a 6" pan and maybe halved the recipe? Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger
If you bake half the amount, I would check after 30 minutes. I am not sure about the exact baking time of a 6 inch round pan using the same amount of ingredients in the recipe. Generally, the flatter the cake, the shorter is the baking time and the taller it is, the longer It takes. The reason is that the inside of the cake takes longer to bake, since baking happens from the outside to the inside. So, a larger pan can decrease the baking time of a cake. Hope this helps!
Sneha Epstein
For sure ! Thanks so much for the detailed explanation - look forward to baking it!
Carolyn Stoker
I made this for a family reunion to provide a dessert for my gluten free mother, my diabetic father and brother and myself (low carb). I made it into cupcakes with blueberries added in and it was fantastic! Everyone loved them including my 3 year-old granddaughter. I used monk fruit/erythritol blend because that is what I had. I am wondering if this is a recipe that could become even healthier with inulin and allulose? I am wondering when you choose allulose over other sweeteners?
Katrin Nürnberger
Allulose is great for anything that is supposed to stay soft, creamy and liquid, such as this keto caramel. For anything that is supposed to be crunchy or crisp, like cookies, I would use a monk fruit erythritol blend. Apart from that it's a decision based on taste preference and availability - allulose can be tricky to get hold of in many countries and it is still pricey.
Ericka
I want to bake it today, I have a concern, maybe because I’m still sleep. We won’t use the yolks? At all? Or we use they with the pure orange mix?
Katrin Nürnberger
You do use the yolks. Add it to the orange pulp with all other ingredients. The egg whites are beaten separately and added last.
Glynis Carolyn Pincombe
What size is your loaf tin? I have 1lb and 2lb here.
Katrin Nürnberger
It’s a while ago, but I believe I used a 2 lb loaf tin for this recipe.
Clare
I messed up with this. I had my oranges boiled and ready, and everything assembled, when I discovered that I only had three eggs (I still haven't quite got my head round how many you use on Keto). It was SO hot, plus I had my cauliflower falafel in the oven, and I just couldn't face going out to get more, so I substituted chia seeds (plus a little water) for the remaining two. Then when I was separating my three eggs, I managed to break one, so I only got to whisk two egg whites... It actually turned out remarkably well considering – soft and light and I liked the crunch of the chia seeds. Will be interesting to compare with the proper version once I've got myself organised. Thanks for yet another great recipe.
Katrin Nürnberger
It WAS hot yesterday!!! I love how you managed to make the cake anyway... thank you so much for your comment!
Gabriela
Hello, I made this once, it turned out quite nice, but the bitterness was still there, in spite of the large amount of sweetener i used. It’s actually the white skin of the orange. I was considering just peeling the orange zest, removing all the wite part and just puree the zest and fruit without boiling. Would this change the nutritional values or the texture of the cake in any way?
Katrin Nürnberger
You'd have less fibre in the cake. I'm wondering if you'd end up with more liquid though and a wetter batter. You'll have to check the consistency and adapt the recipe if necessary.
Ana
The recipe works exactly as writen.
Love the taste and the consistency!
Great recipe!
Thank you!
Sal
Hi, so glad I found a recipe with pure Stevia! Do you know what the equivalent of drops is to the pure Stevia extract powder (the kind where you need just a miniscule amount). And and substitute for orange if I don't like orange in cake?
Katrin Nürnberger
I would only recommend to substitute with tangerines, otherwise it would be better to use a completely different recipe. I have never used stevia powder, so I cannot help with that 🙂
Ingrid Prendergast
Excellent. I've made it three times and family and colleagues loved it. Instead of almond slivers I use pistachios and the last time I added choc chips just out the oven. I also make a hot syrup with a fresh squeezed orange homemade marmalade and pour it over the cake as soon as it gets out of the oven. Divine!! Making again tomorrow with bitter oranges I grabbed from a friend's tree. I will use less peel I think so it won't be too bitter. Wish me luck.
Katrin Nürnberger
Freshly picked oranges! I bet it will be divine.
Sheri
Hello, how can I substitute honey as sweetener? Your recipe looks amazing
Katrin Nürnberger
I would just use the same amount of honey.
Angell Lightheart
Best not to hear honey as it becomes very difficult yo digest clogging up your gut . I would go so far as to say it’s toxic when heated.
I really like using monk fruit sweetener - it convers 1:1 with raw sugar.
Cliff Trotter
This looks great. Can you freeze portions of this cake.
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, this cake freezes very well. Put parchment paper between the slices so they don't stick.
Tiffany
Love the concept about using the whole oranges - but even with 18 stevia drops, the cake is not sweet enough. Need to add top icing on the one I just baked.
Katrin Nürnberger
The sweetness will depend on many things - the sweetness of the oranges, the thickness of the orange skin and your personal idea of what is "just right". I always recommend that you taste the batter before you bake and add more sweetener if you feel it needs. But like you say, if you still feel it's not sweet enough, add some icing on top!
Katie
I initially made this because it had the whole orange in it and that sounded so good. It's amazing!! I've since made 2 more times in double batches, and put some in the freezer for Christmas Day. Everyone loves it here.
Katrin Nürnberger
I'm so glad you all like the orange cake!!! Honoured it made it on the Christmas Day menu 🙂