Orange Angel Food Cake and Orange Glaze

Orange Angel Food Cake

adapted from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, pg. 164

1 3/4 cups sifted superfine sugar, divided **
1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour 
1 1/2 cups egg whites, at room temperature (we used 9 extra large eggs)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tarter
3/4 tsp vanilla extract 
2 tsp grated orange zest

Orange Glaze
1 cup powdered (confectioner's) sugar

about 2 Tbs fresh squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar with the flour and sift together 4 times (I only sifted once, due to lack of patience...).  Set aside.

Place the room temperature egg whites, salt, and cream of tarter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed until the eggs make medium-firm peaks, 1 to 2 minutes.  (Alternatively, whisk by hand to achieve the same peaks - longer than 1 minute...).  With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1½ cups of sugar by sprinkling over the beaten egg whites.  Whisk for a few minutes until thick and shiny.  Whisk in the vanilla, lemon oil and lemon zest and continue to whisk until very thick, about 1 more minute.  Sift about one fourth of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula.  Continue adding the flour by fourths and folding until all the flour is incorporated. 

Pour into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the cake springs back to the touch.  Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan on a cooling rack until cool.

Run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen, and grasping the center "post" pull the cake from the pan.  Run a knife between the bottom of the cake and the pan and carefully slide the cake off of the pan (inverting with a helper works well).

Place cake on a cake stand and glaze with Orange Glaze.

To make orange glaze, place powdered sugar into a medium bowl.  Whisk in orange juice.  If the glaze is too thick add a bit more juice, too thin... add a bit more powdered sugar.

**  Ina's recipe calls for 2 cups of super fine sugar... I found that measurement to be a bit sweet for my tastes and as such we have reduced the sugar to 1 3/4 cups.  For more sweetness use a full 2 cups of sugar.

Liv Life Note:  I personally never have super fine sugar on hand... hence I place the desired amount of sugar into my small food processor and process for a few seconds or until desired fineness is achieved.