This recipe was originally posted in December, 2008. I had some great comments on this cake and thought it might warrant a digging out of the archives. I am still battling what may be strep throat, but when I am well I hope to return to posting and replying to all of your wonderful comments. Thank you for hanging in there with me and if you’re looking for more real food talk see Kristin’s Fight Back Fridays.
Oranges. Lovely, sweet, fragrant oranges. After not buying any fresh produce for a month and a half I bought about three pounds of these organic lovelies on Sunday. We ate one shortly after arriving home from the grocery store and it was so refreshing that I instantly thought “cake!”
I have been trying to get more coconut products into my diet for many reasons. First of all it’s so healthy for me, especially since I am still nursing. All of those great medium chain fatty acids are great coming through breast milk for my baby. Secondly, it’s a great help for losing those post-pregnancy pounds without going on a restrictive diet while nursing.
This cake is both refreshing and nourishing. I’ve used coconut from three different sources – the flour, the milk and the oil – all very healthy. I never really liked coconut until I realized how good it was for me. Now I don’t mind the flavor as much, especially since I know I’m nourishing myself when I eat it.
This cake is lovely in that the orange flavor predominates the coconut flavor. This gives you bright orange flavor without too much of the coconut. The two different sweeteners – raw honey & stevia – also help bring the sugar count down in the overall dessert.
Finally, this cake is both gluten free and casein free for those of us trying to avoid these things.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Coconut Flour Orange Cake (gfcf)
Recipe notes: I give you a method for melting the coconut oil while greasing the pan, saving you a dish. You can certainly melt the coconut oil in one pan and grease the pan separately. Also, I add the coconut oil last just in case it is still pretty warm. Having the eggs already mixed with the other ingredients provides a bit of a buffer in case the oil is still too warm. Scrambled egg cake is not what we’re after here. Furthermore, if you’d like to keep things low-carb consider replacing the orange juice with additional zest and cut out the honey in place of stevia. When I make this cake again I will try these substitutions and give you specific amounts.
Ingredients
6 eggs
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup coconut milk
6 Tablespoons raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
juice of 1/2 medium orange
Directions
Take your eggs out of your refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Measure out coconut oil and place in an 8″x8″ pan. Place the pan in the oven to melt the coconut oil. While the coconut oil is melting, whisk the eggs, coconut milk, honey, vanilla and orange zest together.
Once the coconut oil is melted (probably around five minutes or less), remove the pan from the oven and let it cool while you mix in the rest of your ingredients. Combine coconut flour, baking powder and sea salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet.
Once your pan is cooled enough to handle, carefully swirl your coconut oil around your pan in order to grease all sides. Then pour the coconut oil into the batter and mix until all lumps are gone.
Pour the batter into your greased pan and place on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean.Place the cake on a cooling rack.
After the cake has cooled a bit, but is still warm, poke holes all over the top with a fork. Juice the orange half right over the whole cake, making sure to evenly distribute the juice.
Orange Coconut Oil Frosting (gfcf)
Recipe notes: Be sure to melt your coconut oil in a glass bowl. I do this by putting the bowl over a small pan of simmering water.
Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted in a glass bowl
9 drops of liquid stevia (alternatively, you could use a couple of teaspoons of raw honey)
1 packed teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Directions
Mix all ingredients into warm coconut oil. You are now going to place the bowl into the freezer in order to cool it down. It is very important to check on it every couple of minutes to catch it before it gets too cold. You want to take it out of the freezer right when it starts to get cloudy. At this point the cold bowl (and your cool kitchen) will continue to turn the liquid oil into a solid. Continue to whisk the frosting as it gets cloudier and cloudier and eventually turns into a whipped butter consistency. The idea is to get a bit of air into it. Once it is to a whipped (very soft) butter consistency plop it onto your cooled cake. Frost it very quickly before the coconut oil hardens. It will seem like a pretty thin layer of frosting, but it is just enough.
For more nourishing sweets and treats visit Kimi!
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Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes
Mmm. I can almost smell it from here! It smells like spring.
Peggy’s last blog post..What’s In Season?
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One taste of this cake convinced my Mom to buy EVCO and coconut flour. ;o)
Amy’s last blog post..The Real Story of the ‘Silent Ranks’
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Looks yummy!
FYI — The home remedy for strep throat is apple cider vinegar. Mix it with a little water and gargle it. ACV kills strep bacteria on contact. Do the gargling several times through out the day, and you should start feeling better by the day after.
Thanks for joining in Fight Back Fridays! So many people are sharing recipes today. It’s good to see.
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
FoodRenegade’s last blog post..Fight Back Fridays
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That looks phenomenal! I’ve been looking for a good cake recipe – for birthdays and other occasional festivities. This looks like an excellent option!
Jenny’s last blog post..10 Nutritional Powerhouses that Won’t Break the Bank
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this looks super yummo!
Courtney’s last blog post..Daring Bakers make a …….lasagna!!!
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I made these as cupcakes for a superbowl party earlier this year and everyone loved them! great recipe.
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Looks beautiful. I love orange and happen to have a huge bag of coconut flour in my freezer. . . .just waiting for this, apparently!
Ricki’s last blog post..Flash in the Pan: Cheryl’s Creamy Coconut Collards
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Hmmm. I have been looking for something GF for my husband’s birthday next week. This may be just the thing… and I have all the ingredients on hand.
I hope you get to feeling better!
Amy Ellen
Amy Ellen’s last blog post..Non-Toxic Oven Cleaning… For Your Health!
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This looks really goooood, im gonna try to make it this weekend. I couldn’t find a search button on this blog but have you written an article on supplements? I’d love to read about supplements that are good to take on a daily basis if we cant eat healthy all the time due to a busy schedule, like what are some good vitamins etc.
Thanks
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Wow. I’m so thankful that I found your blog last week. My son is allergic to dairy and wheat (not gluten, just wheat), so this would be perfect for him.
And me.
Cause I love cake.
Amy @ Muddy Boots’s last blog post..E-W-W-W spells "BUG"
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Yum, that is definitely one worth taking out of the archives!
Alisa – Frugal Foodie’s last blog post..Would You Believe I Was in Panama?
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Do you know where I can get, or what IS coconut flour? Is it just a matter of grinding up raw coconut flakes into tiny flour-like texture?
Sherah’s last blog post..Week 25: Day 5 ~ "Let us not grow weary in doing good…."
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Just had to say that I made it this past weekend for my birthday and it was a HUGE hit! I’ve been passing your recipe along (with a link to your site) to lots of people. Hope you don’t mind!!
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Hey! This looks superbly yummy. I used an idea from another blog to boil oranges (or lemons, which is what I used) for 60-80 minutes whole, then chuck them in the food processor and add the rest of the ingredients. It was SO amazing, and might be an alternative for you. I used lemons to lower the carb count. Enjoy!
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Mmm. I’m always looking for “not so bad for you” treats for my kiddos. I have learned to love coconut flavor and use the milk in cooking. It’s the texture of the shavings I can’t take! I’m going to have to try this. Sounds delish.
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This looks great! Do you think it would work with 2 lemons (maybe Meyer lemons as they are sweeter) or 2 limes instead of the 1 orange? Also, since the honey doesn’t stay raw during the baking process, why not use generic honey?
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~M – yeah, I would give it a try. I have been meaning to try this recipe with a few different twists and I think lemon would be yummy. Also you can use any honey, I just happened to use raw in my recipe testing.
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I made this and it didn’t really rise and was very eggy. The batter was soupy. Any thoughts?
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I’ll try it again without the kids helping, perhaps that is where something went wrong. It seemed there wasn’t enough flour.
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Hi,
This recipe sounds wonderful! I’m going to make it for my dd’s birthday party. She’s allergic to citrus, so I was thinking of trying some organic raspberries.
I bake with coconut flour or beans a lot in place of flour.
I’ve made a “frosting” ( really more of a cake topping) with strained yogurt, honey and fresh fruit. It’s very good, a pleasant sweet tangy flavor that goes well with cakes/cupcakes.
Tina
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What a lovely looking cake! I have been searching for a dairy free coconut orange cake to make for Easter and this is great! One question…I REALLY want to make a layer cake…is this cake OK for this? Will it stay together as I flip the pan over? If not I will make it as a one layer and enjoy it plenty:)
Thank you!
Kim
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Shannon Reply:
April 4th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Kim – Yes, the cake portion should definitely work. Just be sure to grease the pan really well. You will probably have to double the frosting recipe, and perhaps do it in two batches otherwise the frosting may solidify before frosting the top.
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[...] Originally found at Nourishing Days [...]
Okay – This took a few bites to get used to. Once I did that, it tasted like good cake. It was a new combination of flavors and textures, so it took me 4-5 bites to really like it.
I made the mistake of not checking my cake. I let it cool for a long time and the pan was cool, but the center was still warm. I whipped my frosting and then applied it. Oops–melt. So now my cake has more coconut oil/vanilla/etc. in it.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the texture of the orange zest, but I don’t normally like it, so it’s no surprise.
I thought, “there’s no way 1/2 c of flour will do it!” but it did. However, this made for a very thin cake. It doesn’t rise a whole lot if at all. I think I’d rather make it in a smaller pan for a thicker piece.
Thanks for sharing this. We’re cutting out grain so this was a neat experiment!
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Shannon Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 6:52 am
Lizz – Thanks for letting us know what you thought. When I went from grain cakes to coconut flour it was a big change. But now that I am used to them they are absolutely delicious.
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