HEAVENLY CAKE

By BobD

Ingredients

• Makes one 8-inch cake, 10 servings
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the cake pan
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for the cake pan
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• Grated zest (orange part only without underlying white pith ) of 1 orange
• Grated zest (yellow part only without underlying white pith ) of 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites

Details

Servings 10
Adapted from lidiasitaly.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease an 8 inch springform cake pan with olive oil. Sprinkle the inside of the pan with flour and rotate the pan to coat the sides and bottom evenly. Tap out any excess flour. Sift 1 ½ cups flour and the baking soda into a small bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk the 2 eggs and the confectioners’ sugar until creamy, smooth and doubled in volume. Add the orange and lemon zest and about half the salt and beat well. Alternately add ½ cup olive oil and the flour mixture, stirring gently after each addition.

In a medium-size bowl using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks when the beaters are lifted from them. Add about one fourth of the whites to the batter and with a rubber spatula gently fold them in, scraping the rice mixture from the bottom of the bowl over the whites. Fold in the remaining whites in the same way.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the top is a deep golden brown and springs back quickly when pressed with your finger, about 50 minutes. Cool the cake on a wire rack about 20 minutes. Run a thin-bladed knife around the edges of the pan and release the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely before serving.