This came about when I had some Mandarin Oranges, and was looking for a way to utilize all those sections, other than a fruit salad or by themselves with breakfast. The recipe itself is 100% Julia Child, straight from her “Mastering the Are of French Cooking”. If you get all the ingredients out and ready, the preparation flows oh, so smoothy. It’s well worth a place in your baking repertoire. It makes one, 9-inch cake layer, so you’ll need a 9-inch cake pan.
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
Grated zest of one orange
1/3 cup strained orange juice
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup cake flour, scooped and leveled, thun turned into a sifter
4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350°
Butter and flour the cake pan; measure out the ingredients
Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating until the mixture thickens to form a ribbon when the whisk is lifter from the pan.
Add the grated orange zest, orange juice, and salt. Beat until the mixture is light and foamy.
Beat in the flour.
Beat the egg whites and salt together in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed.
Sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.
Stir 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter; then delicately fold in the rest of the egg whites.
Turn the finished batter into the prepared cake pan.
Bake in the middle position of your pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes. The cake is done when it has puffed an browned, and shows a faint line of shrinkage from the edge of the pan.
Let the cake cook for 6-8 minutes.
Run a knife around the edge of the pan, then reverse the cake pan on a rack. If you’re going to ice it, immediately revers the cake again so that the domed side is up.
Allow the cake to cool for an hour or two.
Classic service is just to dust the tope with powdered sugar. You can also ice it or, if desiring a more adventuresome presentation, slice it evenly into two layers and ice between the layers and on top. Mainly, have fun.
never 2 old 2 start cooking 