Coconut Flour Orange Cake with Coconut Oil Frosting (GFCF)

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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.

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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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60 Comments

  3. 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

  6. I made these as cupcakes for a superbowl party earlier this year and everyone loved them! great recipe.

  9. 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

    Adrian’s last blog post..The Best Self Help Book Ever Written

  13. 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!!

  14. 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!

  15. 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.

  16. 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?

  17. ~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.

  20. 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

  21. 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

    1. 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.

  22. Pingback: Coconut orange cake « The primal recipe archive

  23. 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!

    1. 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.

  24. I’d like to master this because mine came out abysmal. The taste was fine but the texture of the cake was a fail, something about my mixing. I don’t know how to keep the coconut flour from making lumps. I’m not sure what I did wrong there!

    I used Extra Virgin OCO for the frosting and I think that made it too harsh. I will try it with regular organic coconut oil next.

    Still, I like it although it was ugly and no one else was very thrilled. I’ll try again and pay more attention to the directions.

    1. Kelly – You do have to mix quite a bit to get out lumps. You can also sift the dry ingredients to make it easier. Hope it comes out better next time!

  25. I made this tonight and it was very eggy. VERY eggy. Like fluffy eggs. The amount of orange was perfect, the frosting came out great, just the cake itself didnt look or seem as cake-y as the picture looks. Mine was only about 3/4 inch tall!

    Any advise?

  26. I made an agave chocolate layer cake tonight and was looking for a frosting to go with it. I’m going to try this but add some unsweetened cocoa.
    Thanks for the recipe!

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  28. I’m hoping to try this for my daughter’s birthday cake. She’s wheat and dairy free and my father is on The Maker’s Diet. So I thought this would be something nice for both of them. My question, I don’t think I have enough time to order the coconut flour, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to find it around here. Can I just pulverize some unsweetened dried coconut in the food processor? I do have access to a grain mill, but I wasn’t sure if it would gum up the works?

    1. Jessica – Good question! I have read that people grind up shredded coconut in place of coconut flour, though I haven’t personally tried it. I’m thinking using a blender would be more effective than a grain mill, though. Hope it works for you!

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  30. Shannon,

    Thanks for the recipe. My 12y.o. daughter has autism, and is on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which is aiding her recovery. She doesn’t eat sugar, nor grains, therefore is somewhat limited. This will be a wonderful Thanksgiving treat!

    Dawn

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  32. Looks good 🙂 Can you please tell me how many carbs are in this p/cake – p/slice.? thanks

    1. Jason – I am not sure. I am guessing each piece has 10-15 carbs, but that’s a guess in the dark.

  33. thanks for the recipe! the cake and frosting turned out wonderfully as far as taste and texture goes. however, as a few other people said, it didn’t rise very much at all…..the end result is noticeably smaller in height than your version. i know my baking soda is new and active, and i got all of the measurements right. any ideas? did you pack the coconut flour? i didn’t pack it firmly but i also didn’t scoop it loosely like you do with traditional flour….i did something in between. any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks!

  34. Just made this today & it was awesome 😉 Added 6 Tbls of xylitol instead of the honey & doubled the orange zest. Did strawberry whipped cream frosting w/ sliced berries in the middle. It didn’t rise much for me either but that was ok; cooked it in a 9″ square pan, sliced it in half for a 2-layer cake & it was the perfect amount for us. Have added this to my collection permanently. Thanks so much!

  35. I am licking the screen. This cake has got me absolutely going. I am going to have to try it… tonight. Be done by morning… maybe. Thank you so much for the yummy post!!

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  37. looks amazing! I will have to try this today. What kind of coconut milk? The type in the dairy section (near nut milks) or the kind in the Asian food isle?

  38. I just made a slightly altered version of this cake today. I’m bringing it to my work tomorrow, otherwise I’d have pictures posted on my blog already. Thanks for the inspiration and hope you can read my other recipe in the next couple days

  39. Pingback: Paleo coconut cake - Mind And Muscle Forum

  41. You can make cookies out of the cake that doesn”t rise with cookie cutters.And then put frosting and sprinkles. Put less eggs. Maricris and my mom .

  42. I’m considering making this for a friend and have read the comments thoroughly. I am thinking the ones who thought the batter was too thin may have an issue with the brand or age of their coconut flour. I had some coconut flour in my freezer for a looonngg time (found it after who knows how long) and wanted to use it up in some pancakes. Needless to say they didn’t rise at all. I am thinking it was old because it was a good one from WFN, and I always have great luck with their products. I have a different brand now (Coconut Secret from Azure) and will see how that goes. It’s a little coarser than WFN. I don’t know, maybe that helps someone?

  44. I just finished making this cake and it looks and smells divine. I can’t hardly wait to try it…My kids are going to love this!

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  47. Fabulous! This was just what I needed to kick my cakey/fruity craving. Eliminated some carbs by subbing Truvia in place of honey & left out the orange juice (put in extra zest per instructions). My 5 year old sure didn’t mind eating the little clementines after I zested them & she loved the cake as well! I saw a review earlier about this cake turning out “eggy”, mine was a nice, dense, rich cake with great flavor. I sifted my dry ingredients into the wet. Also I used the canned coconut milk from the Asian food section of the grocery store.

  48. For low glycemic people, I always substitute honey with coconut nectar, which is low on the glycemic scale!

  49. I’m new to coconut flour and eating primal but I must say I sorely miss having desserts like cake so I’m super excited to have come across this recipe. I’m definitely going to try it this weekend.

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