This Almond Flour Cake is light and fluffy, made with easy ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. It’s perfect for a birthday celebration, and no one will be able to tell that it’s gluten-free!
Why Almond Flour is Good for Baking Cakes
I love working with almond flour because it’s made with just one ingredient– ground almonds. It’s higher in protein than traditional white flour, and it’s also higher in fat, which means you’ll need less oil in this recipe than you might expect.
Almond flour gives this cake a subtle nutty flavor, and it’s amazingly light and fluffy for having such a simple ingredient list. I think it tastes more like a traditional birthday cake, when compared to my other Healthy Birthday Cake recipe. (Which is 100% fruit-sweetened!)
Can you Substitute All-Purpose Flour for Almond Flour?
Almond flour is heavier than white flour, so it requires more leavening agents (like baking powder or baking soda). It also needs less oil and eggs than a recipe calling for a wheat-based flour.
If there’s another type of flour that you have on hand, I suggest you search for a cake recipe that calls for the type of flour you have, so that you don’t have to handle the guess-work yourself. An almond flour cake will be much different than a coconut flour cake!
It took me over 15 attempts to get the ratios for this almond flour cake recipe just right, so I mention this so you won’t waste your ingredients by making substitutions.
If you don’t have almond flour on hand, I have a Coconut Flour Cupcakes recipe, as well as a Coconut Flour Carrot Cake recipe here on my website, if you would rather use coconut flour.
How to Make the Perfect Almond Flour Cake
This recipe requires just 1 bowl and about 10 minutes of time to stir together the batter. There’s no need to whip egg whites or do anything fancy!
My only tip when making this recipe is to stir in the coconut oil last, so that the eggs and maple syrup can lose some of their chill if they are cold from the fridge.
Coconut oil can thicken the batter, or clump up, when it touches cold ingredients, so adding the coconut oil in at the end usually makes the batter smoother.
Don’t be surprised if it thickens up slightly after sitting in the bowl. It will still bake just fine!
This amount of batter fills one 9-inch pan or two 6-inch pans. I chose the smaller pans for these photos, so I could make a pretty two-layer cake. (It’s topped with my Vegan Frosting which is made without powdered sugar!)
How to Make Almond Flour Cupcakes
If you would prefer to bake this recipe as cupcakes, this recipe will make 12 cupcakes. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners, then divide the batter evenly among them. (I usually use a scant 1/4 cup measure.)
These cupcakes should bake in about 25 minutes at 350ºF, or until the edges are lightly golden and the center feels firm to a light touch.
For a chocolate cupcake, be sure to try my Chocolate Almond Flour Cupcakes recipe. (You can also use that recipe to bake a cake, if you want to bake it using the timing in the cake recipe below.)
Almond Flour Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups blanched almond flour (181 grams)
- 4 large eggs (193 grams)
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch (6 grams)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (150 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (8 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8 grams)
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (22 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 9-inch pan, or 2 6-inch pans. I like to add a square of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan, to ensure that my cake will come out later.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, eggs, arrowroot starch, maple syrup, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Stir well until the batter is smooth and no lumps remain, then add in the coconut oil and stir again until very smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake at 350ºF until the top is golden and the center of the cake is firm to the touch, about 30 to 35 minutes.
- Let the pan cool in the pan for 15 minutes. then run a knife around the edge of the pan and flip it over on to a plate to release the cake. Let it cool completely before frosting and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is for 1 of 12 slices without frosting. This information is automatically calculated and is just an estimate, not a guarantee. For more accurate results, use the labels on your ingredients at home.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know what you think! If you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite cake flavor? Try my Chocolate Almond Flour cupcakes or my Coconut Flour Carrot Cake if you want to change things up!
We were looking for a cake for my grandsons first birthday, something not full of sugar.
This is perfect, it is super easy and it tastes delicious. It’s a keeper!
Using “perfect” in the name for this recipe is spot on. The cake comes out perfect, both in flavor and in texture! Such a fabulous cake!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Luisa!
I live at 5,500 feet elevation. What adjustments would you make? Thanks, the recipe looks yummy!
Tastes very good!
What type of maple syrup are you using. I only have stevia maple syrup.
I use normal maple syrup (grade A amber) that I get in a big jug from costco.
Hi Megan,
I just had to write on your blog about this wonderful Almond flour cake. I made this cake and the cream cheese frosting from white sweet potatoes this last weekend. We celebrated my daughters birthday this weekend and I wanted to make her a cake. Well it tasted outstanding!!
The taste was moist and light. . The frosting was so good too. My daughter, her boyfriend, my husband and I loved it. My husband even requested that I make the same cake for him on his birthday at the end of this month. Thank you so much, my husband and I had not eaten cake in over 5years since we went wheat free and grain free. It was really a special cake for us all
Can this recipe be doubled for bigger pan? Thank you
This cake was very easy to make and EVERYONE loved it!
I made this cake on my birthday and it was absolutely perfect!!
It’s my son’s 4th birthday soon and I’ll definitely be going this one again.. but was wondering if you can recommend a good frosting that wouldn’t be brown/chocolate?
Best cake ever! I use this recipe all the time. I prefer it with 1/3 cup rather than 1/2 cup of maple syrup.
Can I double this recipe to make 2 9” cakes? Would like a larger layer cake for a dinner that I am hosting. ? Thanks
would tapioca starch work instead? it’s all I can find ! thank you !
I tried this recipe and instead of maple syrup, I used honey, it was just delicious, thanks
Very good. I will use it for strawberry short cake😋.
Made this for my mums birthday yesterday and it was devoured within minutes. I added blueberries and walnuts.
Thank you for creating this perfect recipe. I am going to be making it again next month for my dads birthday.
I was so happy to find this recipe! My grandson has severe dietary restrictions and I had tried several recipes for his first birthday party. It has become our favorite cake!
Super easy to make and reliably delicious.
Loved it so much
can I replace maple syrup with coconut syrup?
Probably, but I don’t know if it will be as sweet. Let me know if you experiment with it!
This cake is da bomb. I’ve been making it for a couple of years and have shared your recipe many times. Thanks for this beautiful cake! Sometimes I add frozen cherries or blueberries, just scattered on the bottom of the pan.
cake looks amazing, planning to make it for my toddlers 2nd birthday. do you think i could add small cut pieces of strawberries into the cake better to give it a little extra flavour??
My dad is Diabetic could I sub a Sugar free alternative a brown sugar one to keep it moist like Swerve?
I’ve never tested this cake with a sugar substitute, so you’ll have to let me know if you experiment with it!
Thoughts on using egg whites instead?
That would probably work, as long as you use 2 egg whites to replace each egg.
Hi Megan!
Will you one day have another cookbook? I have all of your cookbooks so far.
I much rather have them in a book instead of looking them up online.
It’s just easier to find them in a book and also I can sit and relax by looking at the cookbook.
I honestly look your recipes.
Thanks for your support, Sharon! I would love to write another cookbook one day, but it probably won’t be soon, since that kind of project takes SO much time away from my family. For now, I hope you’ll enjoy the free recipes that I share on my website. You can always print them off to save in a notebook. 🙂 And visiting my website often is actually the best way to support what I do here, so I appreciate that, too!
Can I substitute olive oil or avocado oil for the melted coconut oil…..allergic to coconut.
Yes, I think another oil would work just fine for this!
Amazing cake, along with the chocolate vegan frosting (the best frosting I ever ate). I truly appreciate you and all your amazing recipes.
This cake turned out amazing. I didn’t have arrow root so didn’t put in but i added half tablespoon of cardamon powder. Soo yummy. Whole family enjoyed!
Hi Megan, have you ever used food dye on this recipe? I am looking to colour the layers for my son’s 4th birthday. Also I have 3 x 9 inch pans – do you think the recipe will double OK to make enough for 3 layers of this size?
Thanks! Rose
Excelente recepe! 👏🏻👏🏻Y substituted maple syrup for agave and arrow root for corn starch!! It came out perfect! And decorated with fruit between the layers and on top
This recipe was seriously a godsend! My little one has what seems like every allergy under the sun, and I was scrambling trying to figure out what to do for her first birthday. This cake was absolutely perfect, thank you so much!
I’m glad it was a hit! Thanks so much for leaving your review.
Such an easy and fast recipe! Plus the cake taste so good!! It actually taste and smells like a birthday cake, and its soft, moist, and yummy. You know how long it’s been since I had a cake that actually taste like a birthday cake? Too long! It’s not fun being gluten intolerant. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Eh, the flavor’s not bad but a single 9″ layer came out about as thick as a doormat, very thin. Double this recipe to get a decent 9″ layer
Have tried various almond flour/sugar substitute recipes as I want a more healthy, gluten free version. THIS IS THE BEST RECIPE.
I made muffins and they were delicious! To me, was very similar to friands. Moist and tasty – not too sweet. Even husband who normally doesn’t like my “healthy” cakes, couldn’t stop eating them. I also added almond extract and a teaspoon of Amaretto liqueur to bring out the almond flavour and smell. Didn’t need any topping, but adding a frosting etc would make these spectacular for special event.
Can I substitute coconut oil for avocado oil?
I made this recipe for my daughter’s birthday. It was so easy and delicious. The texture was amazing! Thank you for creating this recipe!
Favorite for birthdays! I’ve made mini cakes and cupcakes for my kids birthdays.