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Tunisian Orange Cake, with its citrusy zest and moist crumb, is such a treat. This is a game-changing recipe from Ballymaloe Cookery School as it’s so simple to make and results in the most zesty, moist cake every time. It’s easily adaptable for gluten-free (and dairy-free) guests and it’s the perfect make-ahead dessert or afternoon tea treat.
When I went to Ballymaloe, this Tunisian Orange Cake was legendary there for several reasons. First of all, it’s delicious, which is always important in a cake, and secondly, it’s so easy. And I mean really really easy. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche or Greek Yoghurt and it’s the perfect pud.
You don’t even have to get out a mixer to bake this cake. There’s no elbow grease required. In fact, you don’t even need to preheat the oven! It really is that easy. Plus it keeps for days (well over a week in an airtight container.)
This is one of those recipes where you read over the list of ingredients and can’t quite believe it will all come together to make a cake, but oh I promise you it will. A moist (sorry!), light, deliciously citrusy cake which everyone loves! You simply have to mix the ingredients together and then pour in the cake tin and bake. Whilst the cake is baking, you prepare a seriously simple sticky citrus syrup which you then pour over the cake when it comes out of the oven. The result is a deliciously flavoursome cake with the most gorgeous texture.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe:
- No need to preheat the oven for this cake.
- All you need is one bowl and no electric mixer.
- The cake is moist and full of citrus flavour every time, thanks to the citrus syrup that gets poured into the cake.
- It is made with almond flour, so it is accidentally gluten-free, but it gives it the most delicious texture (providing you use gluten-free breadcrumbs too)
- It also accidentally dairy free, with no butter and no milk or cream!
Ingredients:
Full recipe can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, just scroll down!
White breadcrumbs – for best results, whizz up a couple slices of white bread in a food processor. Even better if the bread is stale as the bread crumbs form better. If you need to, you can use shopbought but avoid the really fine, almost orange coloured variety.
Ground almonds – also known as almond meal. This is crucial for the cake texture, but don’t use almond flour – it’s not quite the same. Almond meal/ground almonds are pure almonds into a powder.
Caster sugar – known as superfine sugar in the US. Golden caster sugar also works, but I haven’t tested this with granulated sugar.
Substitutions and Variations:
Sunflower oil – any flavourless oil will work here as the fat so you could also use canola (rapeseed) oil or vegetable oil.
Spices in the syrup – I like to add cloves and cinnamon to the citrus syrup but this is optional. You could use one or the other, or omit completely.
Make it gluten-free – use gluten-free bread to make gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Here’s how to make Ballymaloe’s Tunisian orange cake:
Here’s a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe at the bottom of the page for detailed instructions.
ONE: Line a 20cm (about 5cm/2 inches deep) cake tin with baking parchment.
TWO: In a large bowl simply mix together the breadcrumbs, sugar, almonds and baking powder.
THREE: Crack in the eggs and stir in the oil.
FOUR: Add the zest and give it a good mix.
FIVE: Pour into the cake tin and place into the cold oven and turn the heat up to 180C/355F. Bake for 45 mins- 60 mins until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. The top should be lovely and golden.
SIX: In the meantime, you can make the syrup. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil. You want the sugar to dissolve and then carry on simmering it gently for about 3 minutes.
SEVEN: Once the cake has baked and is still warm (not hot), turn it out onto a plate so the underside is facing up. Poke all over with a skewer and drizzle over the syrup. Check on it occasionally and you can spoon syrup that has run off the side back on top of the cake.
Cooking Tips:
No need to preheat the oven – you aren’t misreading the recipe, you do indeed place the cake in a cold oven and then turn it on. This makes it so quick and easy, and for some reason, it works every single time.
How to zest citrus fruits – if you don’t already have a fine microplane grater, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough. I use mine every single day – it does zesting, grating, mincing, and more. It’s so useful and they last forever.
Frequently Asked Questions
In this recipe it gives the right amount of moisture and texture – if you used plain flour instead the cake would be far too heavy and possibly a bit wet. Almond flour has become a staple in many gluten-free and low-carb baking recipes, and for good reason. It’s naturally gluten-free, low in carbs, and high in healthy fats, making it a nutritious choice for any dietary restrictions – but most importantly, it tastes great and produces cakes with such a beautiful texture!
If you aren’t familiar with Ballymaloe, it is a world-renowned culinary school, established in 1983 in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland. Darina Allen, a well-known chef, cookbook author, and the Irish founder of the slow food movement, runs the school, which lies on the grounds of an organic farm. Some of its alumni include Thomasina Miers, Tara Wigley, Clodagh McKenna and Desert Island Dishes’ very own Margie Nomura! Ballymaloe have a whole host of cookbooks written primarily by Darina Allen or her mother Myrtle Allen and they all offer the real basics of cooking alongside impressive recipes but all are timeless and straightforward.
Yes you can use ‘soft white breadcrumbs’. They are white and soft, rather than really crisp and golden. Don’t use the really fine, processed breadcrumbs that are bright orange coloured – they won’t do the same thing.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
If you love this Tunisian cake recipe, you will love my Fresh Berry cake, Easy Lemon Tart with Lemon Curd, my Banana & Chocolate Chunk Muffins or my White Chocolate and Raspberry Cake. For more citrus, try my simple lemon curd layer cake or my lemon poppyseed muffins.
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Lemon Loaf Cake
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Easy Pancake Recipe Without Baking Powder
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Jaffa Cake Cake
If you tried this Tunisian Orange Cake or any other recipe on the site, please do leave a rating or comment and let us know how it went!
Ballymaloe’s Tunisian Orange Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 50 g white breadcrumbs , ½ cup + 1 tsp (if they are slightly stale, even better! Sub in gluten-free as needed)
- 200 g caster sugar, 1 cup
- 100 g ground almonds, ½ cup + ⅓ cup
- ½ tbsp baking powder
- 200 ml sunflower oil, ½ cup + ⅓ cup
- 4 eggs
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 lemon, zested
For the citrus syrup:
- 1 orange, juiced
- 1/2 lemon, zested & juiced
- 75 g caster sugar, 6 tbsp
- 2 cloves, optional
- pinch of cinnamon or cinnamon stick, optional
For the garnish:
- chopped pistachios, optional
- creme fraiche, to serve
Instructions
- Line a 20cm (about 5cm/2 inches deep) cake tin with baking parchment. A good tip to line the cake tin is to fold a piece of parchment into four into a rough square. Fold the square diagonally, so that the two folded sides line up and you have a rough triangle shape. Fold once more in half, bring one folded side to another so that you have a thin triangle with a point. Then line the point of the triangle up with the centre of the tin and cut the triangle along the outer curve of the tin. Unfold and you are left with a circle of parchment to fit your tin perfectly. This page is helpful if you need to visualise this part better!
- In a large bowl simply mix together the breadcrumbs, sugar, almonds and baking powder.
- Crack in the eggs and stir in the oil. Add the zest and give it a good mix.
- Pour into the cake tin and place into the cold oven and turn the heat up to 180C/355F
- Bake for 45 mins- 60 mins until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. The top should be lovely and golden.
- Leave to cool for a few minutes before turning out on a plate – the golden top will now be on the bottom.
- In the meantime, you can make the syrup. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil. You want the sugar to dissolve and then carry on simmering it gently for about 3 minutes.
- Once the cake has baked and is still warm (not hot), turn it out onto a plate so the underside is facing up. Poke all over with a skewer and drizzle over the syrup. Check on it occasionally and you can spoon syrup that has run off the side back on top of the cake.
- Once it’s all been soaked up, sprinkle with chopped pistachios, cut into slices and serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and an extra bit of orange zest.
- The video below will help with this recipe.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious! Easy and such a crowd pleaser. Also freezes well.
Thank you for your lovely comment Charmian, glad you emjoyed it!
Cannot even tell you how amazing this tunisian orange cake is. It’s so moist and fresh, it has never ever failed me and I’ve made it around five times now!!
Hello, Can I freeze Tunisian orange cake?
Do you know I’ve made this hundreds of times and yet I have never frozen it. But I really don’t see why not. Make sure to wrap it well to protect it in the freezer but I think it should be absolutely fine. x
Apart from not being gluten free anymore would it change the cake if the breadcrumbs weren’t gluten free?
Hi Elaine! Not at all, use any breadcrumbs you like xx
Hi, the recipe doesn’t have quantity of almond flour only ground almonds .
I’m a bit confused
Hi Nicky, Sorry in the Uk we call almond flour, ground almonds. It’s the same thing! Sorry for the confusion xx
Greetings! What type of breadcrumbs do you recommend? I’d love to make this luscious cake, but just curious what you prefer as the foundation with the almond flour. Thanks very much!
Hi! So sorry for the slow reply. Any breadcrumbs will work – but you want to make them fresh just by blitzing the bread in a food processor. You couldn’t use the dried kind like panko or the ones you get in a tube. xxx