Orange almond cake - a great cake + more great music

One of the best movies I watched last year was “Like Crazy” – Anton Yelchin is such a dear (I first saw him on the excellent “Huff”, if I’m not mistaken) and I got really moved by the portrayed love story; on top of that, the music on that movie is absolutely beautiful, and I can’t stop listening to these tracks – not to mention that the latter has one of the most beautiful video clips I’ve seen. See? I don’t always discover new great music while shoe shopping – sometimes it happens in more traditional ways. :)

From one of the best movies to one of the best cakes: this orange cake, though simple, is really, really delicious: tender beyond words, moist from the almond meal, and citrusy in a perfect way, it has become one of my all-time favorites – I wasn’t too pleased with all the washing up, but a slice of it convinced me it was all for a very good cause. :D
You can use any orange juice left to make an icing for the cake but I really don’t think it’s necessary here.

Orange almond cake
slightly adapted from the beautiful Italian Home Cooking: 125 Recipes to Comfort Your Soul

1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups (175g) almond meal
3 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar, divided
2 whole eggs
½ cup (120ml) canola oil
finely grated zest of 2 large oranges
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
¾ cup (180ml) freshly squeezed orange juice, with pulp, room temperature
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and then flour a 12-cup capacity Bundt pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the almond meal.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, place the 3 egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip until the whites are foamy, then gradually add ¾ cup (150g) of the sugar. Whip until thick and shiny, then transfer to another bowl. In the previously used mixer bowl, combined the 3 yolks and the whole eggs, the oil, the remaining ¾ cup (150g) sugar, the orange zest and both the extracts. Beat on high for 3 minutes, until pale in color. With the mixer on low speed, add the juice and beat for another minute. With a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients. Fold in the egg whites in three additions.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely. Dust with icing sugar, to serve.

Serves 8-10