Gluten Free Orange Cake (Sicilian Whole Orange Cake)

This gluten free orange cake is one of the best cakes I’ve ever made without a trace of gluten! Moist, delectable crumb, full-on orange flavor (from a whole orange), and a sweet and sticky glaze makes it a winner, all around!

A few years ago, my mother happened upon a recipe from an Italian food blog called Allacciate il Grembiule (Tie on Your Aprons.) Luisa had shared a recipe for an orange cake using the whole orange. So she tried it. It was sublime. 

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

We made some changes and shared the recipe, too. However, I gave credit to Luisa because that’s how anyone who is inspired by, or adapts a recipe in any way, shape or form should share it. Anyway, the rave reviews started pouring in. Mum and I made it often (in our separate kitchens) and there’s one interesting note: this cake is extremely flexible. No matter how we substituted ingredients, it has always turned out beautifully.

Even readers reviewing the whole orange cake note the changes they’ve made and how delicious it is! It’s a fabulous recipe. I even made one with lemon, instead of orange which is brilliant! And earlier today, a friend made one from tangerines and shared it on Instagram. 

The biggest difference with this cake, besides the gluten free flour, is that I decided to use cream cheese instead of yogurt. I use cream cheese in this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. and it has a fabulous texture, and it worked so much better than yogurt in this gluten free version. This is one thing I would hold fast on: do not substitute the cream cheese in this cake.

Gluten Free Orange Cake

Make one 8″ cake   Adapted from my Sicilian Whole Orange Cake recipe

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

• eggs
• sugar
• gluten free baking flour
• rice flour
• baking powder (or Italian Paneangeli vanilla baking powder)
• xanthan gum
• butter, softened
• cream cheese, at room temperature (critical ingredient in this cake)
• fresh, organic orange 

Glaze

• juice of an organic orange
• sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)

Prepare an 8″ springform pan by spraying with oil (or butter) and lining in parchment paper (sides optional, if you want really clean sides), then spray the paper, too.

Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.

Mix the gluten free flour with the rice flour, Paneangeli powder (or baking powder) and xanthan gum. Add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then mix in the softened cream cheese.

In a food processor, process the whole orange until it is almost pureed. It should look like this~

Add this orange to the cake mixture and stir until evenly combined, then put the batter into the prepared tin.

Bake for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the orange cake is done before removing from the oven. 

Make the orange glaze

Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the orange juice and allow to simmer for a few minutes, just until the liquid has a syrupy consistency.

Spoon and brush over the top of the cake, while it’s still hot, and allow to cool completely before cutting.

Yes, it’s hard to wait, but the moist orange cake will cut more easily if it’s cool first.

Remove the sides and bottom of pan, and when cool, serve on a pretty plate with a twist of orange and a few clean orange leaves (if desired.)

Serve and hope that there’s enough to last the day.

Erm–maybe enough to last the hour!

 

More gluten free recipes~

Grain Free Fig and Walnut Tart

Blood Orange and Pineapple Pavlovas

Christina’s Cucina is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.