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What a wonderful cake! 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! ~ 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 😉
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
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.
Omg! This is soooo good and so easy to make! Thank you for this recipe. I didn’t think it would be so moist and “fresh “ tasting but it was that’s and more. I added rum concentrate two teaspoons.
Is it possible to make this recipe into muffins? Thank you & Happy New Year!?
Gosh, I have no idea, I’ve never tried. But I don’t see why not…I have a flourless chocolate cake that I make into muffins. Give it a try and let us know.
It is possible to replace sugar with maple syrup? And if so, how much should I use.
My friend made the Moroccan pound cake from your site. DEEEEElish!
The sugar is granulated, so if possible you should replace it with maple sugar. Maple syrup being liquid is going to disrupt the balance in the recipe.
I love the simplicity of whole citrus cakes, and they’re packed with flavor. This looks simple, moist and beautiful.
I don’t know if this is the same cake I made a few years ago, and I bet if I went up through the comments, there’d be at least one from me. So I made it again today! It’s just as wonderful as ever. But this time, I substituted the entire cup of sugar with erythritol with excellent results. I also added a drizzle of fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar. It’s delightful!
Great to know about the erythritol, since I usually don’t cook with artificial sugars I’m sure other readers who do will love to know this, thanks Janet 🙂
Thank you for this comment. Was afraid to try erythritol in this recipe but now will move forward with confidence. We are trying to go sugar free and would love your recommendations if you’re so inclined to try sugar free substitutions in your recipes. I love your recipes and hopefully I will be able to report back on some of the substitutions I make. Thanks again!
I’m really just learning about sugar substitutions since I don’t tend to use them myself. I would love to hear your feedback when you do experiment with my recipes, thanks Diane 🙂
Do you think there would be any issue subbing coconut sugar for white sugar?
No, I think that would work fine Tiffany.
So pretty, this is the perfect cake for winter citrus season! 🙂
I can’t wait to give this cake a try. The county where we live is famous for its citrus which is being picked now. Perfect timing. 😀 I’ve pinned, thank you.
I have to go to Florida tomorrow to help care for a sick relative, Karen, and I’m sure I’m going to find some amazing citrus!
Such a delicious sounding cake. Will have to try it as citrus is a favorite.
Wow Sue! Everything you make…is gold! This cake looks and sounds amazing. Thank you for sharing such beautiful recipes 🙂
This cake sounds amazing! I can’t wait to give it a try! Could you substitute oranges? It seems like you could if you are trying blood orange and grapefruit! Yum! I have to make this!!
I think thin skinned oranges would work great!