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.
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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!
Gluten Free Orange Cake (Sicilian Whole Orange Cake)
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Gluten Free Cake:
- 3 eggs
- 1 ⅛ cup sugar
- 1 cup gluten free baking flour
- ½ cup rice flour
- 3 tsp baking powder or 1 packet Italian Paneangeli vanilla baking powder
- ¼ tsp xanthan gum
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- ⅓ cup cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 large orange organic, washed, and cut into pieces (with the rind, but remove the seeds)
Glaze
- juice of one orange organic
- ⅓ cup sugar
Instructions
Make the cake:
- 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.
- 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. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then remove the side of the springform pan.
- Make the 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.
Notes
- If you like this cake, try the lemon version, too.
Nutrition
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How much in cups for the rice flour in the gluten free orange cake please? Thanks for your help. Cake sounds yummy.
Oops, just saw what you meant, Elaine. I had 1/2 cup in the recipe in body of the post, but somehow missed it in the recipe card. It’s fixed now (1/2 cup) and thanks for catching that! Enjoy the cake, it’s a winner!
good article….I have heard of this recipe before but I did not know the recipe..thank you for sharing the recipe asI always wanted to try it,.
Hello Christina,
I am making your orange cake today – just wondering about the orange glaze: do I spoon and brush the entire amount over the cake?
Thank you,
~ Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth, it’s entirely up to you. You can make less if you want to use less sugar, but yes, I spoon and brush it over the top, as it absorbs into the cake. Unless you mess up like me and make a candy that hardens on top (I did this last time and loved it!) haha! Enjoy!
Hi Christina,
Just baked your cake, and it looked exactly like yours. It tasted fruity, zesty and best part, really moist and well-textured. I liked that the entire fruit is used and there isn’t any wastage. Sometimes denser cakes like these are better than those airy chiffon types. However, my first bite was a little bitter, perhaps i bit into a nasty part of the rind, but I guess that just adds another dimension to the taste. But after that, didn’t taste any bitterness anymore. Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe. Will be making again.
Hi Karen, so glad you like it. I have never tasted this cake made with store-bought oranges, so it could be that they’re more bitter than homegrown (assumption on my part that you’re not using homegrown.) It could also be that the orange wasn’t blended finely enough? Not sure, but glad it was only one bite :) Thanks for your comment! I hope you find more of my recipes to enjoy! :)
I prefer to peel orange without the white pith..then just use skin and flesh..discard pith….the pith is the bitter part if that helps..great cake though xx😁
If you have bitter oranges, by all means, however good quality oranges are the best to use for this cake for the simple reason that the key to this cake IS the skin and pith (yes, the pith, too) of the oranges. Not to mention all the extra work in peeling and removing the pith, it’s just not necessary with sweet, organic oranges. However, I have to say, I am spoiled with my own navel orange tree, so it’s not fair to compare to store-bought oranges. Hope you are able to source some really great oranges and try it with the pith sometime, Sue.
What kind of flour blend dud you use successfully in the GF version please.