Orange Flower Water Cake

From The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider. Copyright 2007 by Sally Schneider.

Use this Orange Flower Cake as a blueprint for other citrus cakes. Serve it plain, with a dusting if confectioners' sugar, or poke the top with holes and saturate it with a tart glaze as follows.

Serves 8

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus some for flouring the pan
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
• 1 cup packed light brown or granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon orange flower water or vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• Butter for greasing the pan



• Confectioners' sugar for dusting
  or:
• Scant 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Sift together 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 3/8 teaspoon salt. Beat 2 large eggs with 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest and 1 cup packed light brown or granulated sugar until light and frothy. Whisk in the flour mixture until almost incorporated, then whisk in 1/2 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon orange flower water or vanilla extract and 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool the cake on a rack 5 minutes, then invert to cool completely. Transfer to a platter and sift confectioners' sugar over the top.

Or, to glaze and soak the cake, cool the cake in the pan 5 minutes while you make this citrus glaze: Combine a scant 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack; with a toothpick, poke holes into the top of the cake. Spoon the glaze over the cake, letting it soak in before adding more.

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