It’s possible your oranges weren’t very sweet (sometimes they’re not) or that your orange skin was very very thick. I’m not sure how much the almond meal affects the texture.

Your best bet for accuracy is to use a food thermometer and make sure the middle is 207 F. Otherwise hard to gage.

You mentioned in the comment here that this orange cake recipe is the most requested and reordered cake in your bakery in form of cupcake as well… May I know what is the baking time you use for the cupcake format?

Yes keep it in. Regarding the bitterness, we don’t experience that. But I would say this, If you really thick pith, they you might slice some of that off. I try to buy navel oranges that don’t have too thick of a pith. It does boil down. That’s the key.

Yes I keep the coconut flour in.

I think tangerines would be amazing, Just be sure no seeds!

She’s asking i believe and I want to know too — coconut flour now or no?

Also, i was making another version once but stopped at the oranges. ( The famed original Spanis version and Claudia Rankines’s recipe— because I couldn’t stand the bitterness from the pith with the pulverized or oranges). I want to try again but wondered if thin skinned oranges might be best?

Did you drain the oranges BEFORE putting in Vitamix. I’ve made this recipe at least 40 times as I sell it and one orange makes approximately one cup of orange mixture. Also I would not recommend adding in extra orange peel, as that can cause bitterness in the cake.