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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.
Absolutely delicious! I followed recipe to the t. I’ve made it once and have had to give your recipe to several people who tasted it. Many thanks .
Fab, thanks for the feedback, Vicky!
This recipe is SOOO GOOD! I tried it tonight because I was craving cake and had very few ingredients. This was literally the only thing I could make with what I had. It turned out scrumptious! I used 1 small lime for rind, and then squeezed half the lime into the mixture. I also didn’t have almonds so I used pumpkin seeds and a few cranberries . It DID have a slight eggy smell and aftertaste and the cake was very light and airy (not fluffy) but it does the trick! I couldn’t fold the egg whites in as the almond mix turns out rubbery but you can “cut” the egg whites Into it and break it up a little until it is foldable. (It’ll take a while!)
The lime was SO flavourful 🙂 perfect!
I did NOT THINK it would turn into a cake, the batter was very strange looking but it turned out great! Even my boyfriend (who is not keto) loved it ! It was a bit crumbly when you put a fork to it, but very good overall! It’s one for the books !!
I haven’t made it yet but the comments cracked me up! you have so much patience
I just made this as the base for a strawberry shortcake and couldn’t believe how moist and light it was! I would make this delicious cake even if I weren’t avoiding gluten because it was so tasty and the texture was so good.
Thank you, Rebecca!
So delicious and light! Easy to make…love it.
Reviewers can be so clueless. The recipe card is always near the end in every online baking recipe. I can’t wait to try this one!
I love this cake !! Easy to make , love that is got a slight crunch on the outside yet is moist on the inside with that slight lemon taste . I did make the powdered sugar and topped with almonds , so good !!
I will be making this again and checking out some of your other recipes
Thanks Big Man !
Fabulous!!!
Can you please add detail about what things should look like? After mixing the flour, sugar, eggs, amd zest, the “batter” looks like sand and didn’t incorporate into the egg whites.
See the video attached.
I don’t usually comment before baking a new item, but I just couldn’t resist noting the large percentage of respondents that seem to have trouble reading. Thank you for your patience. One question, do you recommend using a convection oven or just regular/still air oven at 350 degrees?
Hi Riley- I used a convention oven and it worked well 🙂
The egg yolk mixture is hard like cookie dough and was difficult to fold in the whites…it didnt fold evenly. no video to see process
Yes there is- There is a video in the recipe card.
I made this today and it was a hit with my family. I am always trying to find low carb options for us. While this is low carb, I think your carbs per serving are off. 1/2 cup of sugar has 97 carbs alone.
Not sure if I ever commented but I made this and it was delicious
I’m not sure why some people feel the need to be so rude in their questions about where is this and where is that in the recipe ….. if there’s a recipe then somewhere there will be all the information you need and if you can’t find it then politely ask where it is because a majority of us who’ve read the article have found the complete recipe with all the ingredients listed along with their amounts …. the unfortunate problem with online recipes is quite often there is superfluous information or ads interjected which can make it confusing and frustrating to read …that, however, may not be the creators doing.
Where are the measurements? Useless
lol have you tried scrolling down and checking out the evident recipe card?
Tastes great so I’ve made it a few times but every time I make it the almond flour mixture is a very dry mixture and doesn’t fold well into the egg whites… what am I doing wrong?
Check out the video in the recipe card 🙂
What the heck is wrong with people? Look at the recipe before you ask a dorky question. So annoying!
Thank you for the recipe I will try it!
I just made this and it’s quite delicious and I will definitely make again. I’m curious to know if the flour & egg mix is supposed to be sort of dry not creamy before you fold in the egg whites. Also, I didn’t have almonds so can’t figure out how it works – you put them on top before baking but when it’s inverted (turned upside down) they are on the top? Thanks for this recipe and any answer to my question