ORANGE CAKE

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 pinch of salt (for whipping egg whites)
• 1/2 cup butter/margarine, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar, grinded
• 2 large eggs (or three small ones),
•  juice from 1 orange (one 1/3 of a cup)
• zest from 1 orange (approximately 1 tbsp.)
• 1 tsp. vanilla essence

 Simple Orange Glaze Ingredients

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp. orange zest (optional)
•  4-5 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice

 Instructions

 First, separate the yolks from the egg whites. Set apart in different bowls.

 Sift/sieve the flour with the baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt. Set apart.

 Grate the zest off the orange using a zester or the fine plane of your grater. Take care to ONLY grate the orange, now no longer the white component (pith). The white component may be very sour and could extrade the flavor of your cake, so hold turning the orange as you zest it.

 Preheat the oven to 170C.

 Grease and line an 8″ spherical pan.

 Beat the butter and sugar till mild and creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating properly after every addition. Next add the orange juice, vanilla essence and orange zest and beat. Add the flour and beat it in. Set apart.

 Wash the whisk attachments and dry them properly.

 In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites till frothy, then add a pinch of salt to them and hold beating till the egg whites shape stiff peaks. The salt facilitates to stabilize the egg whites. Add a 3rd of the egg whites into the cake batter and stir it in with a spatula or wooden spoon (NOT THE MIXER), this could assist loosen the batter slightly. Then add half of the final egg whites and really very lightly fold the whites in till simply incorporated. Add the final egg whites and fold till combined in. Avoid over-blending the batter as this could deflate the egg whites.

 Pour the batter into your organized pan.

 Bake at the center shelf of the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or till a skewer caught withinside the middle comes out clean.

 Turn the cake directly to a cake rack, discard the greaseproof paper and permit to chill completely. 

Dust with icing/powdered sugar or serve with dollops of freshly whipped cream. You can grate a few orange rind over the cream for presentation and an additional burst of flavour. Alternatively you could make this smooth orange glaze and drizzle it over the cake.

 Instructions for Simple Orange Glaze

 Sieve the icing sugar to take away any lumps. Add the zest and orange juice progressively till it reaches a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over your cooled cake and permit it to set for some minutes.

 Serve! Enjoy!