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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.
Hi! Do you think coconut sugar would work for this? Thanks!
Yes, but it will be a little darker.
Brilliant
Hi what level is sugar please and can you do Australia measurements please thanks
We use American cups and tablespoons
Can I use applesauce to replace the 4 eggs? Thanks!
No idea! Only tried it as written.
do you think this recipe would work with monk fruit sweetner? And if yes, use the same amount as the sugar? Thanks.
You’d be better off using allulose, it dissolves like sugar.
From the outset, I’ll say that I had almond meal and not almond flour. I suspected this would be a problem with almond flour recipes but for some reason I had problems finding almond flour. I read somewhere that they’re the same, but I found that highly suspect and as I started this recipe, my doubts returned. After I made the cake, I reread the more detailed notes and it does say to use blanched almond flour. Maybe that’s the difference between almond flour and almond meal because mine was not blanched and that caused some issues in the process (as stated in the detailed instructions which, of
Course, I read afterwards).
The almond flour/egg yolk mixture was quite solid and I wasn’t sure how you’d be able to fold in the egg whites. But by adding a bit of milk (somewhere between 1/4 c and 1/2 c) to the point where the batter was just barely thin enough that I knew I could fold in the egg whites without crushing it, I was able to get a good consistency on the batter and well integrated with the whites. The cook time was pretty much the same. I was still worried when it came out of the oven because it looked quite dense and dark. But to my surprise at that point – it came out really tasty! Quite moist and fairly light. I’d love to remake it with the right flour. I’m not sure if it would produce a taller cake as mine was kind of thin. If not, maybe I would double the recipe as the photo looks so nice with such a tall cake.
I paired it with lemon curd whipped cream and strawberries. I’d love to experiment with marzipan or almond paste. What a treat! Thank you for the recipe.
Laura, I love your idea of using lemon curd, whipped cream and strawberries, as well as the marzipan idea! I’m thinking that something like a Boston Cream Pie filling would be nice served with the cake (cornstarch pudding or custard). That would help make the whole ensemble more moist, even though it is light and wonderful just as it is!
Very delicious!! Easy to make and extra easy to eat😋
I dont know why people ask for mesurement, it is all there, just saying!
This would have to be one of the best cakes of all time for me. Absolute big hit here. Easy to make and so tasty and light. I’ll be serving it with confidence to my non keto friends and family.
Hi! Can I use coco sugar for this recipe? 🙂
Sure!
Thank you so much we love it❤️
Hi Arman, it would be easier for us if you could kindly add the metric conversion just below the list of ingredients like your KETO TORTILLA (3 ingredients recipe)
Now have to open the link you sent me each time when I have to refer for metric conversion.
Arman, please use metric measurements too beside cup measurements
Thanking you in anticipation
Hi there- You can use these conversion tools https://thebigmansworld.com/category/cooking-resources/
Please correct my post to “jump to video”
Working fine on our end.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I made it exactly as written with granulated sugar and baked it for exactly 30 min. I buttered my pan and then put parchment paper at the bottom and it came out of the pan very well after cooling 15 min. Every bite was delicious and I will definitely be making this again. This was my first time ever baking with almond flour. Although it didn’t rise as much as I thought it would (like the photo) it didn’t seem to impact the texture or flavor one bit. My friends loved it too.
Could you use Monk Fruit sweetener (Erythritol & Monk Fruit extract)?
Will the taste and constancy be the same?
No it will not- try allulose as it dissolves like sugar.