Somebody recently loaded me up with a ton of oranges, which immediately made me remember this delicious orange cake recipe I'd come across some time ago on Skinny GF Chef. I wanted to make something similar, but egg-free and refined sugar-free, and I'm happy to report this gluten-free vegan orange butter cake came out absolutely delicious.
It's a very light, fluffy, comforting -- a melt-in-your-mouth kind of a cake, and it's not too sweet — most of the sweetness comes from the warm orange sauce you drizzle over it. For me it was just perfect. Just to be sure I'm not just on a yummy cake high, I actually had a picky gluten-eating friend taste test it to tell me what he thought — he couldn't believe it was a gluten-free cake {and that's huge from someone who thinks all GF flour is sand in disguise ;) }.
Note: after I had made and tasted the cake, I realized it would have been absolutely perfect with some poppy seeds in it. I'm therefore adding that in as an optional ingredient. I will definitely add some next time I make this cake.
PrintOrange Butter Cake with Warm Orange Sauce
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 9" cake
Ingredients
Flax Egg:
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 6 tbsp very warm water
Dry Cake:
- ⅔ cup almond flour
- ⅔ cup brown rice flour
- ⅔ cup tapioca starch
- 1 tsp GF baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp guar gum
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds (optional)
Wet Cake:
- ½ cup softened non-dairy butter (I used Earth Balance) (or try this DIY butter recipe)
- ½ cup liquid sweetener of your choice (I used maple syrup)
- zest of 1 orange
- juice of 1 orange (roughly ½ cup)
- juice of ¼ lemon
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange extract
Warm Orange Sauce:
- ½ cup liquid sweetener of your choice (I used maple syrup)
- zest of 1 orange
- juice of 1 orange (roughly ½ cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Oil a 9″ round cake pan (I also lined the bottom of mine with some parchment paper).
- Mix flax egg ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside to gel.
- Combine all dry cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add wet cake ingredients and the flax egg and mix thoroughly to combine everything together. Pour into prepared cake pan. Bake in the oven for approximately 40 minutes. The cake is ready when it is lightly domed, golden, and a skewer or toothpick comes out dry when pricked. Remove from oven and allow the cake to cool off for 10 – 20 minutes on a wire rack. You can then carefully transfer the cake onto a serving plate.
- While the cake is baking, combine the warm orange sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat for approximately 25-30 minutes (I left mine on, stirring occasionally, pretty much until I was ready to deal with the cake).
- Prick the top of the cake with a skewer to create tiny cavities to absorb the sauce. Drizzle with about ½ of the warm orange sauce on top and serve. Reserve extra sauce for drizzling over individual cake slices. Refrigerate any leftovers (mine kept fresh in the fridge for 3 days).
Jan Saunders says
Hello!!Im just about to make this for a GF friend and wondering if I can use almond MEAL from the milk I just made or if it needs to be light and fluffy flour?
Many thanks!
Audrey says
Hi Jan,
I think I'd stick with regular almond flour. The almond meal from milk is usually very moist, which will likely result in a mushy cake consistency. Almond meal is also a bit less flavorful than almond flour, which will affect the taste some. These are just my best guesses though as to what would happen if pulp is used, but feel free to try it out if you feel adventurous of course :) Let me know how it turns out if you try it out.
Lynette says
Hi Audrey, going to give your Orange Butter Cake a try! Can I use white stoneground rice flour instead of brown rice flour? Thank you for all your clear explanations and instructions added to all your recipes ...
Audrey says
Hi Lynette. Yes, you can definitely use stone ground rice flour instead. I'm glad you're enjoying the recipes :) Happy baking!
kristel says
Can this be made into cupcakes? :)
Audrey says
I don't see why not :)
The only thing to keep in mind is that this cake doesn't rise a lot, so I'd fill the tins higher. I'd also use liners because the cake is delicate and fluffy, so liners would make it easier to handle.
Kristine says
Hi Audrey :) Or tapioca starch can replace the spelled flour? And whether is it necessary to use guar gum (maybe changed to corn starch)? I thank you in advance.
Audrey says
Hi Kristine, do you mean: can you replace the tapioca starch with spelt flour? If so, the answer is no, but you could use spelt flour in place of the brown rice flour if you prefer. If you're looking to replace the tapioca starch, you can use cornstarch, arrowroot, or potato starch instead.
For the guar gum, it is essential to the texture, but can be substituted with xantham gum. Cornstarch wouldn't be a good substitute for it unfortunately.
March says
I've just made this cake and it's absolutely delicious! Thanks :)
I substitute chia seeds for flaxseed and it worked perfectly.
★★★★★
Audrey says
Hi March. So glad you liked the cake :) And thank you so much for the lovely feedback and for sharing what you did.
Rowena says
This is the first vegan gf cake I've ever made and its the best recipe everrrrrr!! Thank you so much - I have found my new hobby and food lifestyle.
★★★★★
Audrey says
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, Rowena! :) I'm so happy you liked the cake. It's an oldie recipe, but a favorite.
Alisa says
Amazing cake!! So moist and crumbly :)
★★★★★
Audrey says
So glad you liked it :) Thank you for sharing!
Ann says
Hi --cannot tolerate rice flour -- could I substitute the same amount of almond flour instead?
Audrey says
Hi Anne,
I don't wouldn't go with more almond flour because the rice flour has some more absorbent, binding, and softening properties that it lends to this cake. Can you do other grains? If so, quinoa flour, oat flour, or sorghum will likely work well here.
sheryl says
This cake was delicious. I made it as a loaf and used ground sunflower seeds instead of almonds (since I cant do almonds). I got so many compliments on perfect consistency and taste and I have to say it is the best I have ever tasted that was so close to the non-gf regular Starbucks lemon poppy seed loaf except wayy cleaner ingredients and orange flavoured! Only half cup of maple syrup in the loaf was the perfect amount of sweetness for me to not feel guilty about having a slice for breakfast. I wanted to pin it but cant seem to locate the Pinetrest icon ... I know there must be another way but I just don't know how!
★★★★★
Sharalin says
Hi Audrey :D My sons third birthday is coming up and I was thinking of making your cake with a chocolate sauce instead of the orange sauce and topped with raspberries :D I have two questions. Do you think it would work to use Xanthan Gum instead of the Gaur Gum and do you think that combination would taste good ? Love the sounds of this cake!! Look forward to hearing back from you. All the best. - Sharalin
Audrey says
Hi Sharalin,
So sorry I missed your question earlier, but yes xantham gum would work just as well -- same quantity. And I think this cake would be lovely with a chocolate sauce & fresh berries. I hope my reply is not too late, but in any case I hope your son has a very happy birthday! :)
Jana @ Vegan Glutenfree Monster says
Hey Audrey, I might repeat myself, but this looks amazing! The cake looks soooo sweet and fluffy! Citrus season is close in NZ and I will definitely make this one! Do you think it'll work with coconut oil instead of margarine? All the best! :)
★★★★★
Audrey says
Hi Jana -- thank you :)
Funny you ask that about the butter -- you're the second person today with the exact same question! Time to update my directions it seems ;) Yes, coconut oil will work fine as a substitute {though the butter does add its own flavor}. But even better {if you're up for it}, I'd recommend trying this 2-ingredient DIY butter version sometime.
The Vegan 8 says
Stunning as always Audrey! Yep, this is definitely the recipe of yours I want to make...I secretly wanted a cake...something I could enjoy and wow my awesome readers with to showcase one of your beautiful recipes....AND I have all the basic ingredients. I'm drawn to this cake over the others because you use almond flour in it (it's one of my favorites). I love it's natural moisture characteristics and I use it in many of my own recipes and cakes. Quick question, the 1/4 of lemon...about how many tablespoons of lemon juice would you say you used? I love the simple orange glaze too. Totally drooling right now.
Audrey says
Awesome :)
For the lemon, I literally had a quarter of a fresh lemon on hand, so just squeezed that in. But I usually get about 3 tb out of an average-sized lemon, so I'd say this is just under 1 tbsp.
The Vegan 8 says
Well, as you know from IG, I made the cake and I loved it! It was sweet, moist and tender and light. It wasn't too rich at all. In fact, it was only the sauce that made it truly feel like a dessert which was just perfect. The only change I made was subbing the butter for 1/4 cup roasted pecan butter and I also left out the orange extract, since I didn't have any and didn't want to buy some just for a teaspoon, lol. It was still "buttery" and a wonderful flavor. All my peeps went wild over it on IG and I saw a lot of them become new fans on your page :) :)
Maybe I'll get brave and try your beet brownies next!
Audrey says
Thank you so much, Brandi. I'm so happy you liked it! <3 And I saw all the rave reviews of your re-make on IG. I LOVE the pecan butter alternative you came up with so much.
And I think you have to try the beet brownies sometime as a challenge -- I know you're not a fan of beets, but from my experience those brownies totally defy the beet-hate ;)
Anne says
This was quite delicious and so easy to make. It was moist with great flavor and not grainy. It was a hit with my gluten-friendly family, too! Extra bonus: the house smelled amazing while it was baking! It will definitely be made again. Thanks for sharing!
Audrey says
Thanks for sharing, Anne -- so glad to hear you enjoyed the cake! And I'm thrilled it made your gluten-friendly family happy too -- that's been my experience so far when serving this cake to others too. And the smell -- BEST PART! :) Aroma therapy at its finest ;)
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) says
Can I come over for a slice, now? Pretty please? YUM Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :)
Its live now!
Cindy
Audrey says
Thanks so much, Cindy! Hopping over to the link party now :)
Rea says
I'm not clear on the flax egg ingredients. there is no egg amount listed. could you please clarify?
Audrey says
Hi Rea,
A "flax egg" is a common substitute for a regular egg in vegan (or just egg-free) recipes. In this recipe, it's a substitute for 2 regular eggs.
The flax egg ingredients are listed separately (just above the dry cake ingredients). It's 2 tbsp ground flax seeds and 6 tbsp very warm or hot water. You just need to put these ingredients in a small bowl or glass, stir, and let it sit for a few minutes to thicken slightly. Then just add this mixture into the recipe in step 2 (when it says to add the flax egg).
Hope this is clearer now. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Enjoy the cake!