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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.
Wonderful and easy to make cake! I made it for my mom’s birthday. She really likes it! I promise her to make another one soon.
Thank you for this beautiful and tasty cake. Oh, by the way, I add a couple drop of almond extract.
Hi Arman Liew
I bake the almond flour cake
I made this for the first time today it’s super yummm.
Thanks for the recipe.👏
Eva sabbah
Hi! I’ve made a version of this using Bochasweet, but this time I used allulose. This had a better texture. I didn’t have any problems with the yolk/sweetener hardening like I read above. I only had one small lemon and was a little short on zest. I had a sad little tangerine in the fridge and improvised with a zest combo. Delicious! I’ve been looking for something less sweet to have with coffee and this is it! This will be a go-to in the future, so quick and easy.
Oh yum! I made this and it was excellent. My cake wasn’t quite as tall as yours because my pan was slightly bigger. The flavor reminded me of almond biscotti, so I made again minus the lemon and added almond extract. I sliced into long bar shapes and baked them again. The egg whites and almond flour don’t allow them to become rock hard even when nicely toasted. Great recipe! I will use this as a base for other flavors.
I love this recipe. Very easy to follow on the website and with the recipe card. It’s so delicious, simple and low sugar content.
Hi Arman ! I can’t wait to try this. I’m not really a sugar lover, can I just omit the granulated sweetener ? Thanks !
Not that I’ve tried 🙂
Hooray! Add the weights soon please. I find cup measurements difficult to work with having always used weights. It must be a Brit thing.
Skipped the lemon, added Almond extract and a few fresh raspberries.
Sooo Good!!
Does the lemon zest need to be in this cake?? Can I make it without the lemon zest??
You can skip it 🙂
Love, love, love… the flavor, texture, and the quick prep of this delightful dessert. Thank you for sharing. While I did get the egg whites to stiff peaks. When I folded in all the ingredients, the volume didn’t fill the 9-inch cake pan, it seemed half the height of the one pictured. I am not sure what I did wrong, but the result was still delightful! I also blended the Erythritol, sans cornstarch, and it was perfect. Because it preps and cooks so quickly, It will be a go-to for pot-lucks and dinners!
Are the sliced almonds added to the cake pan first? So they’re on top when the cake is inverted after baking? Or is cake inverted twice?
Check out the video 🙂
Hi Arman,
Looks like a great and easy recipe.
Can you omit the lemon zest?
I don’t see why not 🙂
Hello! At the carb and calories calculated including the Almonds that are optional?
It includes the almonds 🙂
My, how many people don’t even go to the actual recipe, but just stop at the beginning of the article. That’s how people are today, I guess. The cake is called Caprese in Italy, which can be done also with chocolate. I have both of the cakes on my blog as well. Love the cake: easy, light, fast and always special! Thanks for your recipe! The only difference to the Italian way: the Caprese will be bottom on top when you get the cake out of the cake pan, that way the almonds will get on the cake after baking.
Delicious almond cake.