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This almond flour cake is so light and fluffy that you won’t believe how easy it is to make. With just four ingredients, it’s easy and elegant!
Love almond flour recipes? Try my almond flour brownies, almond flour cookies, and almond flour muffins.
Using almond flour instead of wheat flour for cakes completely transforms the texture. It yields a lighter, crumb, and fluffier texture and doesn’t leave you feeling heavy or bloated afterward. My classic almond flour cake recipe is a dessert staple in my home, and I have no doubt it will be in your home too!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- It’s made with just 4 key ingredients, making it such an easy dessert to make.
- Everything is mixed in one bowl, so there is virtually no clean up required.
- It’s easily made, low-carb, and/or sugar-free, making it a fabulous keto dessert. No sugar and no grains are needed, but you’d never tell.
- The texture is light, fluffy, and with a gorgeous crumb. It’s sweet and with a slight lemon flavor, without being overpowering.
Ingredients needed
- Almond flour. You must use blanched almond flour. While almond meal can work, it won’t yield a soft and moist crumb.
- Eggs. room temperature and separated.
- Sugar. White or brown sugar works or sugar substitutes, like allulose. If you use brown sugar or coconut sugar, expect your cake to be darker in color.
- Lemon zest. grated from a fresh lemon. Do not use dried or freeze-dried lemon.
- Powdered sugar and sliced almonds. It’s optional, but it makes a fabulous garnish and looks pretty, too!
How to make an almond flour cake
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Make the batter. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy. Add the almond flour and lemon zest and fold through until incorporated. Next, in a separate mixing bowl, beat together the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until combined.
Step 2- Transfer the batter to a greased cake pan. If using almonds, add them on top of the cake.
Step 3- Bake for around 30 minutes or until the top is golden and firm.
Step 4- Cool in the pan for 20 minutes before carefully inverting it onto a large plate. Once cooled to room temperature, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Do not over-bake the cake, as it continues to cook as it is cooling down.
- Be sure to use flaked/sliced almonds to top the cake, not whole almonds. The latter will sink into the batter while it is cooking.
- Your cake must be cooled completely before flipping it, or else you risk the cake falling apart.
- If you’d like to make a thicker cake (as pictured), use a 7-inch or 8-inch cake pan. If you prefer a thinner cake (like the video in the recipe card), use a 9-inch cake pan.
Dietary swaps and variations
- Make it keto-friendly. Use a sugar substitute, like allulose or brown sugar substitute.
- Add some frosting. Spread a light layer of cream cheese or vanilla frosting.
- Make it without eggs. Instead of egg whites and egg yolks, try one of these egg substitutes.
- Add anise extract. Some traditional almond flour cakes have this in their ingredients, so add 1/2 teaspoon.
- Add some coconut flavor. Add some coconut extract and shredded coconut flakes for some added texture and flavor.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftover cake can be stored at room temperature, covered, for up to 1 week. If you’d like it to keep longer, you can store it in the refrigerator.
To freeze: Place the cake in a shallow container and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Unlike other flours, almond flour is the most similar to cake or wheat flour. You can substitute cake flour with almond flour on a cup-to-cup basis.
Almond flour doesn’t make cakes moist, but it yields a lighter and fluffier texture. The milk, eggs, and/or liquid ingredients, in combination with butter or oil, affect how moist a cake is.
No, you cannot substitute the almond flour with coconut flour. They both have different baking properties. If you’d like a cake with coconut, try making a coconut flour cake.
More baking with almond flour
Almond Flour Cake (4 Ingredients!)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 4 large eggs separated
- 1/2 cup sugar * See notes
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds optional
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease an 8-inch cake pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine your almond flour, egg yolks, sugar, and lemon zest, and mix well. In a separate bowl, beat together your egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Fold through your egg whites until combined. Transfer the cake mixture into the greased cake pan and top with sliced almonds.
- Bake the cake for 30 minutes, or until tender on top. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes, before carefully invert onto a plate and sprinkling with powdered sugar.
Love it , very easy
Really nice flavour and easy to put together. Did not rise like your photo so I call them Almond cake bars. 😊
Gorgeous cake, lovely and moist and ideal for a gluten free person.
Added a quarter of a cup of sugar and it was plenty sweet enough.
Cooked it in a square cake tin to be cut into squares.
Cooked at 160 degrees fan oven for the suggested time – perfect.
Thanks, Angie!
I was surprised at how little ingredients this requires. Its a flat cake and its very light and tastes lovely. I used vanilla sugar and it turned out very well.
Thanks, Saffron!
this almond flour cake is spectacular!!!
Since there was no levining agent the cake was only .5 inches high. I served with fresh fruit and whipped cream and they all complimented eah other.
This was especially good because hubby is on a very limited sodium diet and this had none.
My friend who can only have gluten free loves this cake…so do I as well as others people that I have shared this cake with who are Not Gluten free…one question I hope can be answered quickly…could I possibly swirl some apricot jam on the top of this cake ? Would like to make her this cake for Easter.. thank you much
The cake was tasty and I’ll make it again. What I don’t understand is how there is only 1 net carb for 1/12th of the cake when you’re using 1/2 cup of real sugar that contains 100g is carbs.
Great recipe! I am on a limited diet and I was able to make this almond flour cake with a few tweaks. I did not use the lemon and instead of using the egg yolks, I used one ripe banana (I did use the egg whites). I also added a half a teaspoon of powdered ground vanilla and instead of sugar I used real maple syrup. Incredibly moist, it was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This sounds great, how much of maple syrup did you use?
The first time I used 1/8 cup and it was good. Second time I wanted just a bit sweeter so I used just under 1/4 cup. Great both times! So moist and delicious. The ripe banana also adds sweetness. Enjoy!