Black Walnut Orange Sponge Cake

I had a family emergency come up and thought I wasn't going to get my recipe posted for October's Improv Cooking Challenge  Thankfully Lesa extended our deadline a bit. So....

Without further adieu may I present

This is my modified version of the recipe from Epicurious website. I also made an orange syrup to drench the finished cake in and bit of sweet whipped cream with orange zest for a simple garnish. Sometimes less is more.

Here's what you'll need to whip up this scrumptious cake.

4 eggs at room temperature 

1 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup orange juice

1-1/2 cups finally chopped black walnuts

1 cup flour

1tsp. baking powder

Preheat the oven to 325* Line the bottom of an 8" spring form pan with parchment paper, and rease the sides with olive oil. Mix the flour, walnuts and baking powder together and set aside.

Whisk the eggs in the mixer for two minutes until they are frothy. Gradually add the sugar to the eggs and beat on high for 4 minutes more. In three additions fold in the flour/walnut mixtures. Last fold in the orange juice and olive oil and place the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack until cool. Garnish as desired. I think a drench made with Gran Marinier would also give the cake a superb flavor. 

Check out some of the other tasty Orange and Black creations in this month's Improv Cooking Challenge

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