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.
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 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 this "sugar free" orange cake!
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Fluffy, light texture
- Fragrant orange flavor
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- Low carb and keto-friendly
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
This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
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.
Step 2: Cut the oranges in half and remove any seeds, then puree in a food processor or with a stick blender.
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.
Step 5: Fold the egg whites into the cake batter. This will make the cake lighter in texture.
Step 6: Pour the batter into your cake tin and sprinkle flaked almonds on top.
Step 7: Bake in the oven until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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
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!
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!
Yes. You can use tangerines, lemons or even grapefruit. Note that you will have to adjust the amount of sweetener accordingly.
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!
Storage
Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Slice and freeze for up to 3 months. Layer parchment paper between the slices so they don't stick.
More Keto Orange Recipes
- Healthy Chocolate Orange Cake1 Hours
- Sugar Free Orange Marmalade Recipe (Keto)2 Hours 40 Minutes
- Healthy Cranberry Orange Scones23 Minutes
- Keto Orange Cheesecake1 Hours 30 Minutes
More Sugar Free Cake Recipes
Here are more easy sugar-free loaf cake recipes to try:
- Keto Marble Cake1 Hours 15 Minutes
- Keto Peanut Butter Bread1 Hours 10 Minutes
- Keto Cinnamon Bread1 Hours
- Keto Blueberry Bread1 Hours 10 Minutes
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Recipe
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.
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups almond flour 250g, or ground almonds. **see notes
- 2 oranges unwaxed, washed ***see notes
- 5 eggs medium, separated (or 4 large)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon orange extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder or vanilla extract
- seeds of 6 cardamom pods crushed
- 16 drops liquid stevia or to taste. Option to use 4 tsp-¼ cup granulated sweetener of choice
- handful flaked almonds to decorate
Instructions
- 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.
- Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius/ 350 Fahrenheit electric or 160C / 320F fan. Line a 9x5 inch bread baking tin with parchment paper.
- 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. 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.
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.
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.