Please don’t sway away in horror just because this is a gluten free cake. I am still the same person who loves gluten and sugar, and butter, but this time I thought I’d try something new. It sure wouldn’t kill me to eat a gluten free cake. So when I stumbled on this recipe I knew I had found special cake for April. I’ve modified the original recipe to make it gluten free, sugar free etc… My fingers were crossed in hopes that the cake wont explode in the oven (one time an eggplant exploded in my oven, so please don’t ask), when it didn’t explode, I knew I had found a keeper. This Tunisian cake is everything that you can expect from regular wheat laden, sugar loaded, empty calorie cake. Its also very crunchy. I like that about a cake. Not a lot of cakes can claim to be crunchy, and yet moist. I can’t believe that a cake that is gluten free, sugar free, and butter free would be so melt-in-your-mouth cake!
You know whats the best part about this cake? It’s a one bowl cake! Yes one bowl. You only need one bowl (I realize I’ve said it three time already) to mix all the ingredients, and then just dump them in the cake pan.

- Don’t worry if the mixture seems a little runny. Its supposed to be like that.
- Don’t worry if the cake seems to fall a little after baking its normal. Mine puffed a lot while baking, but it fell a little after cooling. That’s completely normal.
- If you notice the cake top browning too fast, half time through baking, cover the top of the cake with aluminum pan.
- You can make this cake even if you don’t have a mixer.
- I’ve included the thermomix way to do the cake and the syrup in the recipe below. Just because it’s so easy to make it on the thermomix. But you don’t need thermomix or any other mixer to make this cake. All you need is one bowl and a wooden spoon.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Yield: 1 one 9 inch cake, serves 6 - 8
Adapted from Waitrose
Ingredients
- Cake
- 1 cup (100 g) Almond Meal
- 1/2 cup (75 g) cornmeal (polenta)
- 1 1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup (110 g) honey, preferably raw
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp (200 ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 tsp lemon zest For the syrup
- Juice of 1 orange
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/8 cup (50 g) honey, preferably raw
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 pods cardamom
- 1/2 tbsp orange-flower water
- 2 tbsp pistachio, grounded (for garnish)
Steps
- Cake
- Preheat oven to 180C / 350F / Gas mark 4. Grease and line 9 inch springform cake pan.
- Mix the almond meal, cornmeal, baking powder & salt. Add the honey. Beat in the oil, eggs and both zests.
- Pour into the prepared cake pan for 40 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for five minutes then turn out on to a plate. Syrup
- Put all the ingredients except the orange water into a pan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for five minutes. Remove the cinnamon and add the flower water.
- While the cake is still warm, pierce it all over and pour on half the syrup. As it cools, spoon on the rest. Just before serving, sprinkle the grounded pistachios.
- This cake even tastes better on the next day, so keep in a airtight container for one week in the fridge. Thermomix way:
- In the bowl of the thermomix, make the almond meal. Blitz the almond on speed 10, 15 sconds.
- Add the cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds.
- Add the honey, olive oil, eggs, lemon & orange zest. Mix on speed 4 for 2 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wash the thermomix bowl, and prepare the syrup. Through all the ingredients (except the orange blossom water & pistachios) in the thermomix bowl, Cook for 3 minutes at 90C on speed 1. Add the orange flower water, and cook for 30 seconds.
- Follow the directions from step 5.

This post is part of the cake of the month project for 2013, where every month I make a new cake from a new country.
In January I made this Swedish Saffron Cake.
In February, I made these mini Mexican chocolate cakes.
In March I made this Kuwaiti Cardamom & Saffron Cake.
Now, in April it was this Tunisian Citrus & Almond Cake. A gluten free, vegan, sugar free, butter free cake.

There you have it my dear readers. A gluten free, sugar free, butter free, and ~almost~ vegan Tunisian Cake.
If you enjoy Sukarah’s posts, please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or check Sukarah’s Instagram! And while you’re at it pin us on Pinterset.
Don’t forget that you can subscribe for Sukarah’s RSS feed to receive notification whenever there is a new post.