Orange Cake, Ancona Style

Remembering Marcella Hazan!

Ingredients

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus flour for dusting the pan
• 3 eggs
• Grated peel of 3 oranges
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened to room temperature, plus butter for greasing the pan
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons ouzo liqueur
• 1 tablespoon whole milk
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice, with 3 tablespoons sugar dissolved in it.

Preparation

1.

Heat the oven to 350.

2.

Put the flour, eggs, orange peel, 4 tablespoons softened butter, sugar and ouzo in a food processor, and run until all the ingredients are evenly amalgamated.

3.

Add the milk and baking powder, and process again to incorporate into the mixture.

4.

Thickly smear a bundt pan (Nordic Ware has a number of great shapes, including the one pictured) with butter, and dust with flour. Put the cake mixture in the pan (it won’t fill it up all the way), and place the pan in the preheated oven. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top of the cake becomes a rich gold color.

5.

Remove from pan after ~10 minutes, set on rack.

6.

While the cake is still warm, poke many holes in it using a chopstick or any similar narrow tool. Into each of the holes, slowly pour some of the orange juice. At first the hole fills to the brim with juice, but this will subsequently — in about an hour — be absorbed by the cake. Serve at room temperature, with more orange juice drizzled over each slice.