The original version of this recipe went viral - everyone’s obsessed with our Thermomix Whole-Orange Cake (click here to see the Instagram Reel)! While the original version is naturally dairy free, it does contain eggs and we had SO many lovely customers contact us wanting a vegan version - so that’s exactly what Ellen’s done! Introducing our Thermomix Whole-Orange Cake, Vegan Version! Same great flavour and texture, same super easy recipe.
I love using fresh fruit (and vegetables!) in cakes… it just feels so wholesome to literally be able to pick your flavour straight off a tree! In this case, we’re using the WHOLE orange - skin, pith, rind the whole lot! Talk about no waste. The skin of the orange contains SO much flavour, it really adds something that juice alone cannot. And it means we can get away with baking an amazing cake from scratch, using just six ingredients (plus water!). Usually people would boil their oranges first, but because we’ve got a Thermomix machine or other brand of thermo cooker, it’s just so easy to steam them instead! I have seen other thermie recipes where they don’t bother with this step and just blend up the raw orange - I’ve tried this but honestly it leaves a bitter flavour thanks to the pith, which then results in people overcompensating with the amount of sugar they add. While I love sweets, I never want to add more sugar than I have to! So by cooking the oranges first, we get rid of that bitter flavour meaning less sugar needed in the final recipe. Win! Plus, thanks to the oranges and oil this cake is incredibly moist yet still light - it’s a hard combo to master, but we’ve done it.
Ellen made individual orange cakes in our naturally non-stick silicone bar moulds… perfect servings every time, especially great for lunchboxes! These moulds make baking cakes just SO easy - there’s no need to line, grease or oil and the cakes come out clean as whistle perfectly every time! You can check them out here…
Ingredients
2 whole oranges, rinsed
3 tbsp ground flaxseeds
250g water
200g macadamia or light-flavoured olive oil
180g white sugar
300g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
Method
- Place oranges in TC steamer basket inside TM bowl - if they don’t fit side-by-side trim the ends off. Fill bowl with 1.5kg water (this should come about half way up the sides of the oranges, but it doesn’t matter). Cook for 40 minutes, steaming temperature, speed 3.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix flaxseeds with 250g water. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 170C.
- Remove oranges from steaming basket (be careful they will be hot! best to allow to cool a bit first). Cut into quarters and add back into a dry TC bowl. Puree for 8 seconds, speed 10.
- Add oil and flaxseed mixture, mix for 5 seconds, speed 5. Scrape down sides.
- Add sugar, flour and baking powder, mix for 30 seconds, speed 3. Mix remaining flour in by hand using our silicone thermie spatula.
- Transfer mixture to 12 silicone bar moulds (2 sets) and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until top is golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool for minimum 15 minutes before removing from moulds. Ice with a basic sugar icing or orange glaze, dust with icing sugar or simply leave as is - delicious all ways! I like to decorate mine with some thinly sliced dehydrated orange slices semi-reconstituted in a splash of orange liquor.
