Cassava Almond Orange Cake

This cassava, almond, and orange cake is wonderfully springy, spongy, moist, and of course cozy and delish.

It’s hard to imagine a baked cake can have such a lush texture and yet be eggless (because it’s vegan), grain-free and gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and also free of added oils. The cassava, almond flour, and applesauce are the magic ingredients that make it so.

I have to admit, I often neglect cassava as a baking ingredient. I know it can be a bit pricey and hard to find (though it’s becoming more easily available I’m finding). It’s also just not my favorite tasting go-to flour, however this particular recipe totally changed my perspective on its potential.

All I can say is the right texture in a gluten-free vegan cake can be a bit of a hard thing to achieve, but the combo of ingredients here can probably fool anyone into thinking this is quite a conventional cake. No crumbling, no dryness. Just sturdy, delicious coffee cake for the win.

Now I know there will be questions regarding substitutions for the cassava (I can hear them already as I type this out!). I have to say, I don’t have the answer unfortunately as I’ve yet to try this specific recipe with another flour. I’m planning on it in the near future hopefully, and that happens I’ll update this space.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment on your own. I suspect another flour should probably work fine, maybe a combination of a gluten-free flour and a bit of tapioca starch, for example, or just all purpose flour if you’re not gluten-free. I can’t guarantee results of course, as this is a hypothetical suggestion, however I do expect a full report in the comments below on how you went with it if you give a substitute flour a try here! :)

Now, if it’s almonds (and not cassava) you’re trying to swap out, you’re in luck, because that’s quite a simple substitution. Feel free to use another nut flour instead, like cashew, or hazelnut, or sunflower seed flour for example. Just keep in mind the flavor might be slightly altered, but shouldn’t be a biggie with most nuts or seeds.

If you can’t easily find alternate nut flours at the shops, you can always easily make your own. I cover how to do that in Unconventional Treats, if interested.

And of course, use some sliced or chopped alternate nuts of your choice for the topping.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention the orange flavor can be easily swapped for another flavor of your choice. For example you could add a tiny amount of espresso powder to this cake, or use fresh orange rind instead of the extract, or use other warming spices, etc.

P.S. 1. In case you’re interested in making your own applesauce for this cake, here’s an oldie recipe from the blog. Besides, then you can make these applesauce muffins next ;)

P.S. 2. This recipe works well as muffins or in a bread loaf, if you prefer.

Cassava Almond Orange Cake

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★★★★★ 4.8 from 4 reviews

• Author: Audrey @ Unconventional Baker
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 6" cake
• Category: Cake
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: Vegan, Grain-Free
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

A moist, spongy, and cozy cassava almond and orange cake. This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free.

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Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour
• ½ cup cassava flour
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ⅛ tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

• ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 10 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp orange extract
• ½ tsp almond extract

Toppings

• a few handfuls sliced almonds
• optional: coconut milk powder for dusting

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Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Oil a 6″ round cake pan (or a dish of a similar size, approximately 4 cups volume). Line the bottom with a circle of parchment (optional, helps the cake come out easier). Set aside.

2. Process all dry ingredients in a food processor to combine. Add all wet ingredients and process to combine once again. Transfer this mixture into the prepared pan. Top with slices of almond (press them in very lightly).

3. Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 1 hour, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out dry.

4. Cool the pan on a wire rack for 10-20 mins, then remove the cake from the pan* and allow it to cool further on the wire-rack. Enjoy fresh and warm or allow it to cool all the way and enjoy later. Prior to serving you can dust it with a bit of coconut milk powder if you like.

 

Notes

*To flip the cake out, the easiest way to do this is to cover the pan with a plate, then holding the plate and the pan together flip them over (so that now the pan is sitting upside-down on the plate). Carefully remove the pan — the cake should be upside-down on the plate at this stage. Peel off the parchment paper circle (if you used one). Cover the cake with a serving plate, then flip the two plates upside-down and remove the top plate. The cake should now be sitting un-molded upon your serving plate.

Happy Baking!

x Audrey

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This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.com for products used to make the recipe.