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What a wonderful cake! My daughter couldnโt stop eating another slice. It came out just like your photo, and tastes like a fresh orange pound cake. Iโm in love! ~ Lilly

My flourless tangerine cake is made without any flour or oil ~ yet it’s fluffy, moist, and fabulous!
This is one of those times you just have to take my word for it, and give this unique flourless tangerine cake a try. The minute you spot great tangerines, put this easy recipe on your to-do list, you won’t regret it.
This gluten free cake is made with whole tangerines, peel and all!
Cakes made with whole citrus fruits have always fascinated me. The concept comes from the sunny island of Sicily, where citrus trees grow like weeds. The fruit is boiled, de-seeded, and processed into a brilliant orange puree. The puree is blended with eggs, sugar, and almond flour, poured into a tart pan, and baked into the moistest, most delicate, tangerine cake you’ve ever tasted. This is an experience not to be missed.
what you’ll need for flourless tangerine cake
- fresh juicy tangerines
- the better your fruit, the tastier your cake will be.
- eggs
- white sugar
- almond meal or almond flour
- baking powder
- Amaretto, optional
- confectioner’s sugar for dusting
I use a high speed blender to make a tangerine puree
It’s hard to believe that the boiled tangerines, above, will magically morph into such a delightfully fluffy cake with so few ingredients and such minimal effort. It blows my mind every time. I used my Vitamix, which does an amazing job blitzing the tangerines into a silky puree, but any good food processor will work.
The right pan for this recipe
I bake my flourless tangerine cake in a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom so I can lift it out for serving and cutting. (You can also use a cheesecake pan.) The cake bakes up moist and dense, but with a light, almost sponge cake texture. I know it sounds strange, but it really is light and dense at the same time.
This tangerine cake is moist enough to make ahead
The cake slices like a dream, and will stay most for several days at room temperature. If you’d like to make it a day ahead, dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
decorating the cake with a lace effect
To get the pretty lace effect lay a doily or piece of lace on top of the cooled cake and then sift powdered sugar over all. Carefully life off the lace and voila! Don’t be afraid to try, you can always cover up with a solid layer of powered sugar if necessary.
See my post on How to Decorate a Cake with Lace for detailed instructions on how to achieve this pretty and surprisingly easy look. The technique is so versatile and can be used for all kinds of special occasion desserts from the winter holidays, to Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, etc.
Sometimes the message of a post can get drowned out by all the text and photos…so I’ll just put it here in plain black and white~
Try this, it’s sensational.
After making this cake in 2012 I went on to make a FLOURLESS WHOLE MEYER LEMON CAKE in 2013 which is wonderful, too. I’m already experimenting with pink grapefruit and blood oranges ~ I’ll keep you posted ๐
Tips for making flourless tangerine cake
- use good, sweet, seasonal tangerines…your cake will be as good as your fruit, so choose the best!
- Since you will be using the whole fruit, I recommend organic tangerines, if possible.
- Weigh the puree so that you get the proper amount in your cake. It should be 11 1/2 ounces.
- You can experiment with flavoring this cake. I added Amaretto on a whim, and you could use other spirits like Grand Marnier. You could also leave out the alcohol and use some vanilla or almond extract.
Flourless Tangerine Cake
Video
Equipment
- 9 inch spring form pan or tart pan with removeable bottom
Ingredients
- 1 pound tangerines to make 11 1/2 ounces of puree, approximately 5-6, but weigh them
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 cups almond meal or almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp Amaretto, optional
- confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F Butter a 9 inch spring form pan
- Step one is the only time consuming part of this cake. Wash your tangerines and put them in a saucepan covered with cold water. (They’ll float, but don’t worry about that) Bring to a boil, and boil for a full 15 minutes. The boiling removes the bitterness in the citrus skin.
- Drain and let the tangerines cool for a bit. Slice them in half, and then in half again. Remove any seeds and discard, but do this on a plate so you don’t lose any juice or pulp. Put it all in a food processor and process until completely smooth. You may have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times. My finished puree weighed 11 1/2 oz, (about a cup) and I highly recommend weighing the puree and only using the 11 1/2 ounces. Too much puree will throw off the balance of ingredients in this cake.
- Set aside, or refrigerate until the next day if you want to do this ahead.
- The rest is a one bowl deal: Beat the eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Fold in the almond meal, orange pulp, baking powder, and Amaretto, if using. Mix until well combined.
- Pour into your prepared tart pan and smooth out evenly.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the cake is browning too fast, cover loosely with a sheet of foil.
- Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan to finish cooling.
- Dust with confectioner’s sugar. Decorate with some citrus zest if you like.
Can the tangerines be swapped out with oranges?
You could try that Dawn, but I would look for thin skinned oranges so the flavor won’t be too bitter.
Hi, I am in Perth Australia so very rare to get tangerines, Can i substitute oranges?
You can, the only issue is how thick and/or bitter the rinds might be. Look for thin skinned oranges!
What a wonderful cake! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I’m lazy so I made it without boiling the fruit. I just peeled 6 tangerines and added half of one’s peel with the flesh. Threw that into my Vitamix to puree it. But of course I included Amaretto! My daughter couldn’t stop eating another slice. It came out just like your photo, and tastes like a fresh orange pound cake. I’m in love! We enjoyed it for dessert, followed by breakfast and lunch the next day. Pairs equally well with wine and tea. This is a keeper, for sure.
Hi Sue !
If I cut the recipe in half, would you recommend 1 or 2 eggs?
Thank you! Carolina
If it were me I’d take 3 eggs, beat them together lightly, and take half the volume. The balance of ingredients is pretty important in this gf cake, so I wouldn’t mess with it.
Perfect solution ! Will do ๐ Thank You!
Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes?
I wouldn’t recommend it Linda, the cake has a very dense, moist, fragile texture and I have a feeling it would stick to the muffin papers.
Hi Sue, I have just checked on Google and it says I cup of almond flour is 96grms do that equals to 288grms, does that sound about right. Sorry to be a nuisance. Sue Simpson.
Yes thatโs right.
Hi Sue so that would be 450grms of ground almonds, that sounds alot is that right?
Hi I love the sound of this cake I have made one using whole oranges before. The only problem I have that nowhere in my village in Spain sells Almond flour just the regular flours so can I just use regular flour and do I have to alter anything else if doing this. Also does 11 1/2 ounces translate to 300 ml.
I haven’t done this with regular flour Kathryn, it’s really formulated for nut flour. You can easily make your own almond flour by grinding raw almonds in a food processor, if you have one. I think 11.5 ounces should be about 340 ml.
Thank you for such a quick response. Probably after the holidays. But I will let you know.
Wishing you and your family A Happy Holiday.
love & kisses, Joan
Can I use Persimmon pulp to make this cake? If so any changes I need to make?
I have made the Tangerine cake so many times.
Everybody is so surprised that it is made from Tangerines as it is so yummy.
Keep up the good work.