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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.
I would have never thought to add the peel and pith. I always thought they were just bitter tasting. I’m going to have to give this another try. Looks delicious!
This type of cake has a long history in the Mediterranean, Serena. The fruit gets boiled first, which is supposed to remove most of the bitterness. The peel etc gives a great burst of citrus flavor to this cake, I think you’ll love it!
Love citrus, can i use cuties?
The only issue I can think of is that maybe if you use Cuties there will be a higher ratio of peel to fruit since they are smaller? That might alter the flavor/texture and MIGHT make it more bitter. But I’m not sure, it’s probably worth a shot!
When I think of Tangerines, I think of little Mandarins I get from Trader Joeโs, but I think your recipe must be asking for something bigger. Do you mind telling me how big your tangerines are in inches? Sorry to be so particular, but want to make sure my ratio of peel to juice is correct.
Hi Janet ~ I’ll have to estimate, but mine were somewhere around 3 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
Thank you, that helps!
This looks really tasty and I love the orange flavoring.
Thanks Ben, I love this because the whole fruit gives the cake an astonishing orange flavor naturally ๐ You can’t beat the real thing.
have you tried a pink grapefruit version yet? Can’t wait to try this one!! Just made some candied tangerine peel and your clementine tangerine jam….the very best!!!!
Hi Jeanne, pink grapefruit is on the list, stay tuned, I’m definitely going to try it! I’m happy that you liked the clementine jam, I’ve been experimenting with that, too ๐
Simple yet stunning, Sue. I love the natural yellow colour from the tangerine.
I agree, the color is like pure sunshine!! Thanks Angie ๐
What a gorgeous, but simple cake! Citrus is so perfect this time of year – and I bet the flavor is fantastic. I’ve never tried a cake made with the whole fruit like this – guess I need to try it soon ๐
The almond flour creates such a nice texture, and the tangerine gives it all the flavor and moistness ~ it’s pure magic!
Does this cake freeze well?
Also, how long in advance can it be made?
I think it should freeze well, Jan. If you want to make it in advance I would let it cool completely, wrap it well, and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Aloha: I made this cake twice yesterday. In small 4 inch springform pans and in a 9 inch springform pans. I used oat flour and these were very good. Every one of my clients (I use them as my tasters) loved it and wanted the recipe. The large one I added poppy seed to. Have not cut into it yet. I was wondering if you could add ricotta cheese to the recipe for a more moist cake? I will try this later this week. Thank you so much for the recipe
Great feedback, thanks Anne ~ I love oat flour, so that sounds good to me, and poppy seeds ~ definitely!
Great….thanks!
BTW…my cake came out a bit too bitter. Will add more sugar next time.
I tried it yesterday! Was sublime!
I’m thrilled to hear it Irene, thanks!
Sue do I have to put the skin as well?
Yes, the whole thing, except the seeds.