Italian Gluten-Free Almond-Orange Cake

Soft, rich, and flavorful, Italian almond and orange cake. 

Quick, easy to make and gluten-free!

Here is another bright, rich, moist and gluten-free Italian cake made with almond flour and exploding with orange flavor.

After I posted my torta caprese bianca recipe a couple of months ago, a lot of you asked me for a gluten-free recipe that didn't have chocolate in it. 

So here is another classic Italian recipe for an almond cake (with no chocolate, or butter) that I'm sure you will want to try too. 

...Just look at the crumb!

For this recipe, I just use almond flour and no regular flour.  You can also substitute for hazelnut flour if you prefer. Just as good! 

Any finely ground almond flour works, or almond meal. I buy mine at trader's Joe or Whole Foods, but you can find it in most grocery stores. 

If you can't find almond flour, you can make it yourself: buy whole, blenched almonds and blend/blitz until you get fine, powdery flour. Do not over-blend or you will end up with almond butter instead.

This delicious almond cake is flavored with orange zest and juice, but you're welcome to substitute it with lemon or limoncello like in my torta caprese. 

You can flavor the cake batter with almond extract or orange extract. Or if you rather keep it simple, you don't need to add either.

You can use olive oil, or if it's too flavorful for your taste, you can use vegetable oil. Or melted butter if you prefer, in the same amount.

In this recipe I use 4 large eggs. 

You will need to divide the egg yolks and the whites. Use the yolks right away and mix well with the sugar. I use a hand mixer for this step, but you can whisk by hand or use a stand mixer too.  

The egg whites are beaten until firm and folded into the cake batter at the end. Add a small portion of the egg whites to start, maybe a fourth or so. Using a spoon or spatula, move around the edges of the bowl, under the batter, and fold it to the middle of the bowl. Continue rotating the bowl. 

Add more of the egg whites and continue folding until incorporated in the batter. This motion will make sure the egg white will not deflate and the batter is airy and soft. 

Pour into an 8 or 9-inch springform pan, top with almond slices, and bake until golden on top and set in the middle. 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool and right before serving. And enjoy!

VIDEO RECIPE:

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PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD: Italian Gluten-Free Almond-Orange Cake