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 fineplane of
your grater. Take care to ONLY grate the orange, now no longer the
white component (pith). The white componentmay be
verysourand
couldextrade 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 tillmild 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 couldassist
loosen the batter slightly. Then addhalf of
the final egg whites and really
very lightly fold the whites in tillsimply
incorporated. Add the final egg whites and fold tillcombined in.
Avoid over-blending the batter as this
could deflate the egg whites.
Pour the batter into your organized
pan.
Bake at thecenter
shelf of the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or till a
skewer caughtwithinside themiddle
comes out clean.
Turn the cake directly to a cake rack, discard
the greaseproof paper and permitto
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 progressivelytill it
reaches a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over your cooled cake and permit it
to set for some minutes.