This Orange Passover Sponge Cake recipe is one of those rare Passover desserts that I’d eat any time of year. Citrusy, bright, and flour-free, it is also the perfect dessert for your Seder table.
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This easy kosher for Passover sponge cake recipe is light, airy, and flavorful. It contains just a few basic ingredients, and it is even gluten free!
The classic Passover sponge cake is sadly missunderstood. Sure it can be flabby and uninteresting. But a well-made sponge cake is delicious, delicate, fluffy, and moist all at the same time.
Almond flour and potato starch make a sturdy but still tender base. A splash of orange juice brightens up the flavor. I love to top this Passover sponge cake with strawberries, blueberries, or other fresh fruit and a sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar or whipped cream.
What is the difference between sponge cake and normal cake?
A “normal” cake is contains butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and a leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda.
A sponge cake is contains oil, sugar, flour (or, as in this case, a starch like potato starch), whipped eggs, and sometimes a chemical leavening ingredient, as well.
I use kosher-for-Passover baking powder in my sponge cake. You might wonder how baking powder, a leavening agent, can be kosher for Passover. As with everything, there are differing opinions on this, but foods that are leavened by fermentation (yeast) are chametz. Baking powder is a chemical leavening agent and is therefore not prohibited. Think about it: You can use whipped egg whites as a leavener, too. I use Gefen baking powder, which is cornstarch-free (unlike some other brands that use cornstarch as a carrier) and kosher for Passover.
The whipped eggs keep the cake moist and provide structure. The end result is a sponge-like texture.
FOR THE COMPLETE LIST OF INGREDIENTS WITH QUANTITIES AND DETAILED PREPARATION AND COOKING INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD THAT APPEARS AT THE END OF THIS POST. BEFORE YOU SCROLL, CHECK OUT THE USEFUL INFORMATION I’VE INCLUDED IN THE POST BEFORE THE RECIPE CARD.
What ingredients do you need to make this Passover orange cake?
The ingredients for this basic sponge cake are quite simple. Here is everything you need:
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Milk
- Orange juice and zest
- Oil
- Potato starch
- Almond flour
- Baking powder (use Gefen cornstarch-free baking powder for Passover)
- Salt
How do you make it?
Making this basic sponge cake is simple. Here are the key steps:
- Preheat the oven and grease the pan.
- Mix the eggs with sugar, milk, orange juice, andoil, potato starch, almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake.
What makes this a kosher for Passover sponge cake?
Just about any basic sponge cake is free of wheat flour. I make this particular Passover sponge cake with potato starch and almond flour. Both almonds and potato starch are generally widely accepted as “kosher for Passover.”
I like to use Gefen potato starch.
I love the almond flour from Bob’s Red Mill.
Is there a substitute for potato starch?
If you are making this for Passover and plan to share it with others, you’ll obviously want to stick to ingredients that are kosher for Passover. Potato starch is always safe in this regard. But it’s not the only starch that will work in this cake.
Tapioca starch is another option that will work with the recipe. Many people consider tapioca flour or tapioca starch to be kosher for Passover, but you won’t likely find any with a “kosher for Passover” label.
Cornstarch is a suitable substitute for potato starch, but corn is more controversial since many Jews do not consider corn kosher for Passover. If you’re not making this cake for Passover, however, cornstarch will work just fine as a substitute.
More Jewish holiday recipes you’ll love
Orange Sponge Cake
This simple orange sponge cake is light, moist, and full of citrus flavor. It's perfect for Passover, but delicious any time of year.
Ingredients
- Oil for preparing the pan
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1/3 cup oil (use any neutral-flavored oil)
- 2 cups potato starch (see note for substitutions)
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 heaping tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray or brush the inside of a 9-inch round baking pan with oil.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the sugar and eggs. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is foamy and well combined. While mixing on medium-low speed, gradually add the milk, orange juice, and oil, mixing until they are all incorporated.
- Whisk the almond flour, potato starch, baking powder, salt, and orange zest into the wet ingredients and mix well.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into
the center comes out clean.
Notes
You can substitute cornstarch or tapioca starch for the potato starch (just be careful with substitutions if making for Passover.)
Nutrition Information
Yield
10Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 379Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 14gCholesterol 75mgSodium 260mgCarbohydrates 52gFiber 4gSugar 18gProtein 8g
Nutrient values are estimates only. Variations may occur due to product availability and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of preparation, origin, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.
Jewish Recipes
Jewish recipes are the heart of every Jewish holiday celebration. There’s a special dish (or five!) for every occasion, from the high holidays to Shabbat dinners! Here are my favorite Jewish recipes for the holidays or any day.
Brisket with Apricots, Prunes, and North African Spices
Brisket is braised in a mixture of red wine, beef broth, dried fruit, and North African spices for a Mediterranean take on the traditional Jewish holiday dish. This recipe was adapted from a recipe by Jayne Cohen in Bon Appetit.
Potato Latkes
You can make a gluten-free version by substituting gluten-free brown rice flour for the flour. You can also jazz up the recipe by adding thinly sliced scallions or substituting sweet potatoes, parsnips, or apples for some (or all) of the potatoes. This recipe serves about 4 people and is easily doubled or tripled.
Instant Pot Applesauce
This Instant Pot applesauce is super quick and easy to make. It's delicious on top of crispy potato latkes--or just eat it plain!
Instant Pot Falafel
Crispy, golden brown patties are tender and moist on the inside. They're seasoned just right with cumin, coriander, cayenne, and fresh parsley.
Instant Pot Hummus
This Instant Pot hummus from scratch starts with dried chickpeas and takes less than an hour to make—and that's start to finish time. There's no need to soak the beans. The result is lush, rich, creamy, and full of flavor.
Israeli Couscous Salad with Pomegranate Seed, Pistachios, and Hummus Vinaigrette
This is a great way to use up leftover cooked couscous. The dressing can be whisked together in a bowl, but is especially easy to make in a food processor—chop the parsley leaves in the processor first, then add the other ingredients and process until smooth.
Lamb Kofta Kebabs
Ground lamb is mixed with lots of fresh herbs, aromatics, and spices and then grilled on skewers. I like to serve these with pita bread, hummus, tzatziki, harissa or chermoula, and a salad of romaine, cucumbers, and tomatoes with lemon dressing. Brown basmati rice is a great accompaniment as well.
Homemade Pita Bread
Pita bread is surprisingly easy to make and watching the rounds puff up in the oven is so, so satisfying. Use them for sandwiches or cut them into triangles and use them to scoop savory Middle Eastern dips like my Instant Pot Hummus, baba ganoush, or tzatziki.
Matzoh Fattoush or Bread Salad for Passover
This bright, fresh, kosher for Passover salad—a take on the popular Middle Eastern bread salad called fattoush—gives the plain crackers new life. Spiced, baked matzo “chips” replace the usual flat bread, but other than that, this hearty salad packs all the fresh herby, tangy, spicy flavor you expect from fattoush.
Whipped Feta Spread with Garlic and Fresh Dill
Whipped Feta Spread is a great addition to a mezze appetizer platter. It's a tangy, salty, creamy dip with a punch of garlic and fresh dill. Scoop it up with pita chips or raw veggies.
Grandma Fran's Vegetarian Chopped Liver
Made of mostly walnuts, butter, and onions, this chopped liver is just as good as the original, but meat free!
Easy Homemade Jelly Donuts or Sufganiyot
Sufganiyot are traditional Israeli jelly donuts often eaten during Hanukkah, along with other fried foods. Because, of course, fried foods celebrate the miracle of the oil! This recipe makes a simple, lightly sweetened fried dough that can be filled with jelly or the fillling of your choice and dusted with powdered sugar.
Israeli Salad with Egg and Feta Cheese
Israeli Salad, distinguished by finely diced tomatoes and cucumbers, is described (by Wikipedia) as "the most well-known national dish of Israel." Variations on the theme are limitless. Our version includes hard boiled eggs and feta cheese.
Beef Kreplach
Kreplach are tender dumplings plump filled with a savory filling of ground beef and onions. They are super easy to make because they use wonton skins in place of homemade dumpling dough.
Orange Sponge Cake
This simple orange sponge cake is light, moist, and full of citrus flavor. It's perfect for Passover, but delicious any time of year.