Purchasing Dorie Greenspan's latest baking book was the best gift I gave myself. Her recipes are approachable, beautiful and delicious. Baking Chez Moi may be my new favorite thing to read while I fall asleep. I already knocked out two recipes the week I received the book. This orange cake is delightful and delicious. I decided to keep with the season's offerings and use blood oranges and pink grapefruits as a garnish. You don't need to top the cake with citrus, the syrup recipe works wonderfully on its own. I found that I loved the look and taste of the additional citrus.

For the Cake:

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 large orange

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

For the syrup:

1/2 cup sugar

Juice of 1 orange

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan, dust with flour and tap out the excess. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Put the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl in which you can use a hand mixer. Grate the zest of the orange over the sugar. Squeeze the juice into a measuring cup–you should have about 1/3 cup, but a little more or a tad less won’t throw things off.

Rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. If you’re using a stand mixer, fit it with the paddle attachment and attach the bowl. Add the butter to the bowl and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each one goes in, then pour in the juice and beat to blend. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. The batter may look a little lumpy and grainy, but that’s fine. Turn the batter out into the cake pan and smooth the top.

Bake the cake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. The top of the cake will be pale, the bottom even paler. As soon as you take the cake out of the oven, unmold it onto a cooling rack, invert it onto another rack and then put the rack over a baking sheet lined with plastic film or foil.

Meanwhile make the syrup: as soon as the cake goes into the oven stir the sugar and orange juice together in a small bowl, and then stir a couple of times while the cake is baking. Don’t worry if the mixture is a little grainy–it will still soak into the cake nicely.

Spoon or brush the syrup over the hot cake, working slowly so that it soaks into the cake. I use only half of the syrup–I like the cake moist but not wet–but you can use more if you want a thoroughly-soaked through cake.

Optional; Citrus Topping-Start this process while the cake is baking

Make the cake the same but do not make the syrup. You will 2-3 oranges/grapefruits. One grapefruit and one blood orange is what I used. You will need to cut off either end of the fruits then trim closely along the sides of the fruit to remove the peel. You will do this a total of 5 times around, creating a hexagon shape. Be sure to stay close to peel and not take too much of the flesh away. Next turn the citrus on its side and cut 1/8 inch thick slice.

In a large surface frying pan bring 1 cup of water and sugar to a boil. Add a cinnamon stick and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the citrus segments and poach in the liquid for another three minutes. Carefully remove the citrus with a slotted spoon and place onto the hot cake. This part is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. Try to make sure there is no space of cake exposed, trim any pieces that hang over the edge. Strain the syrup and pour about half over the citrus. Keep the remaining syrup to add to your coffee or tea.

Allow the cake to cool to room temperature, if you can let the cake set over night. Store at room temperature covered in plastic.

I received this recipe a few years ago from a friend's mother. She has a home in Cape Cod a place that knows how to utilize cranberries. Every holiday season I bake this cake at least three times and am always sharing the recipe. This is easy, delicious and beautiful!

1.5 cup cranberries

1/4 cup of Sugar

1/2 cup of Walnuts

Butter a 10" pie plate. Put cranberries in bottom, sprinkle the sugar and nuts.

Mix in a bowl;

1/2 cup of sugar

1 cup of flours

2 eggs, well beaten

3/4 cup of melted butter

1 tsp. almond extract

Pour this mixture over the cranberries and nuts. Bake at 325º for 35 minutes, till golden brown. Cool ten minutes, then turn upside down onto a plate. Let the cake cool to room temperature.

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