Orange Chiffon Cake

Light and fluffy with a distinctly orange taste. It's a pretty good size cake so I like to make it when I'm having guests over to make sure that it gets eaten! Or I eat the whole darned thing and that's not good!!!  

Serves 10-12

(See Note at bottom)

Chiffon Cake:

2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 eggs, separated, plus 1 egg white

Zest and juice of 2 oranges (juice should equal
   3/4 cup; add water if necessary)

2 Tablespoons Grand Marnier (I've used
   Orange extract instead)

3/4 tsp cream of tartar


Simple Orange Glaze:

2 Tbls butter, softened


1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tsp fresh orange juice

1 tsp hot water

1 tsp orange zest

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract or Grand Marnier

Light and fluffy with a distinctly orange taste.  To serve, top with orange glaze or simply dust with confectioners' sugar.
(See Note at bottom)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Have ready a 10-inch tube cake pan, preferably with a removable bottom.  Do not grease or flour it.

For the cake, sift the flour, 1 1/3 cups of the granulated sugar, the baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.  Whisk the egg yolks with the oil in a medium bowl.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients.  Stir in the zest, juice, and Grand Marnier.

In a large, clean bowl, beat all the egg whites until frothy.  Add the cream of tartar and remaining granulated sugar, and beat until stiff, but not dry, peaks form.  Fold the whites into the batter until just blended

Scrape the batter into the ungreased cake pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the cake springs back to the touch.  Immediately turn the cake over onto the neck of a bottle and let sit.  Undisturbed, until completely cool (at least 1 1/2 hours)  before removing from the pan.

For the glaze, cream the butter in a small bowl using a wooden spoon, add the confectioners' sugar, alternating with the juice and water.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in the orange zest and vanilla.  The glaze should be thin enough to drizzle.  if not, thin with a drop or two of hot water.

When the cake is cool, spread the top with the glaze, allowing it to drip down the sides.

Note:  I doubled the glaze recipe because I felt it needed more to cover the cake, but that is just me!
Recipe from "My Nepenthe"