orange cornmeal cake

i bought a bunch of cornmeal so i figure i try to use it up a bit. i found a bunch of recipes using cornmeal but i had to try this one. it sounded like a nice springtime cake.

Orange Cornmeal Cake Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup for the topping

1/2 cup orange juice (or dry white wine)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Zest of 1 large orange

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with oil (can use butter for this too); line the bottom of the pan with wax paper or parchment paper, and brush the top of the paper with oil.

2 In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, 1 cup of the sugar, and orange juice until smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and orange zest; whisk lightly to combine.

3 Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan; sprinkle the top evenly with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes.

4 Cool the cake in the pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to separate it from the edge of the pan. Invert the cake gently onto a plate, and remove the parchment paper. Re-invert the cake onto a rack to cool completely before serving.

Serves 8.

the only thing i recommend is to use maybe 1/8 cup but no more than 1/4 of sugar for the topping instead of 1/3 cup. the cake is in an 8" pan and i def think that's too much sugar for the topping. i used 1/4 cup and still thought that was too much. it does leave a nice crunchy crust on top but i'm sure you can get the same result with a little less sugar. also i ran out of olive oil so i used half olive and half veggie oil. i also forgot to buy an orange so i didn't have any orange zest. the cake was perfect for today. it's good for breakfast or dessert. my roommate made coconut milk lemongrass soy ice cream and i ate some with the cake and it went really well together.