Dear SOS: I would be grateful if you could beg, borrow or steal the recipe for Girasole’s amazing orange cake. To the eye, it looks like an ordinary slice of cake, but one taste and you understand why we ordered three slices of it on a recent Thursday night. The most light yet orange-y and delicious expression of the fruit I have found in any dessert. I have begged them for the recipe, but maybe you have more leverage.
Gwendolyn Driscoll,
via email
Dear Gwendolyn: The cake, easy to prepare and serve, has bright fresh citrus flavor. Serve it simply, under a dollop of whipped mascarpone and garnished with a bit of candied orange peel.
Girasole’s Orange Cake with Mascarpone
1 hour, 15 minutes, plus cooling time. Serves 8 to 10
2 cups (8 ounces) cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) softened butter
3 egg yolks
Juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange
2 heaping tablespoons orange marmalade
1 tablespoon vanilla
Whipped mascarpone (half mascarpone, half heavy cream whipped together), for garnish
Candied orange peel, for garnish
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch Bundt pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix, using the paddle attachment of the stand mixer or a hand mixer, until the butter is fully incorporated with the dry ingredients. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolks, orange juice and zest, marmalade and vanilla. With the mixer running, slowly beat in half of the egg mixture until incorporated, then beat in the second half.
Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake until the cake is puffed and lightly browned, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 minutes to an hour. Rotate the cake halfway through baking for even coloring. Cool on a rack.
Serve garnished with whipped mascarpone and candied orange peel.
Each of 10 servings, without garnish: Calories 338; protein 3 g; carbohydrates 42 g; fiber 1 g; fat 18 g; saturated fat 11 g; cholesterol 98 mg; sugar 24 g; sodium 86 mg
Note: Adapted from a recipe by Girasole in Los Angeles.
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