Orange Cornmeal Cake

My girlfriend, Kathryn made this amazing cake this past Christmas and I fell in love with it. It was sooo delicious...but everything she makes is delicious. Kathryn is an amazing cook and baker. In fact, I regard her as our 'expert baker' within our Dinner Club because she always brings the most amazing desserts. This one for me was above the top, good! Not too sweet, full of flavor, and the most perfect texture. It's the perfect combination of cake and cornbread textures, soft like cake but still has that heartiness like cornbread. Just sweet enough with the orange zest and the granulated sugar topping. Surprisingly, this cake also has white wine and olive oil in it. Not exactly what you'd expect to find in a cake recipe but these ingredients make it utterly delicious!

If you are looking for a different take on dessert for your Valentine, give this one a try, you won't be disappointed!

Orange Cornmeal Cake (recipe from Martha Stewart)

1/2 cup olive oil (plus more for pan)
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar plus 1/3 cup for topping
1/2 cup white wine (or Orange juice)
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
finely grated zest of one large orange

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brush bottom and sides of a 8-inch cake pan with olive oil. 

Note: I had problems getting this cake out of the pan without ruining the sugar crust, so the second time I made it, I used long strips of parchment to help lift the cake out of the pan. Cut 2- 2"x16" long strips of parchment paper and place them in the bottom of the pan crossing each other in an X.
Place the cake pan on top of a new full sheet of parchment paper and with a pencil, trace along the outside of the pan. Cut out the circle.
Then lay the parchment circle on top of the crisscrossed strips. Brush circle with additional oil. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs and sugar and white wine until smooth. Add flour, cornmeal baking powder, salt and orange zest: whisk gently to combine. 

Pour batter into prepared pans and top evenly with remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar. (Sugar topping will be thick) Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 35-40 minutes.

Cool in pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Use the tabs of parchment paper to gently lift cake from pan and cool completely on a rack. The sugar topping will crack a bit but that is normal. See picture to the right...yum!

First bite.... Mmmm!


Last bite....Yuuum!