Gulf Coast Orange Sponge (Bizcocho de Naranja Veracruzano)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10-inch ungreased tube pan or angel food pan
• •Stand mixer or hand mixer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Wide rubber spatula
• •Small saucepan for piloncillo glaze
• •Tlacotalpan-style glazed earthenware serving plate

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the pan

   Heat the oven to 350F. Use a 10-inch ungreased tube pan or angel food pan. Do not grease it. The batter needs to climb the sides as it bakes. Grease the pan and you steal its ladder.

2. 2

   Sift the flour

   Sift the cake flour with the salt twice. Set it aside. Sponge cake is not hard, but it is not forgiving. If the flour is lumpy or heavy, the crumb will tell on you.

3. 3

   Beat the yolks

   In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar until thick, pale, and falling from the whisk in a ribbon. Rub the orange zest into the remaining sugar with your fingers before adding it to the whites later. That releases the oil in the peel. The perfume is in the zest, not in a bottle.

4. 4

   Add citrus and vanilla

   Beat the orange juice, neutral oil, and scraped seeds from the vainilla de Papantla pod into the yolk mixture. Save the empty vanilla pod for the glaze. Use the pod. Extract is useful in other kitchens, but Veracruz has Papantla. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

5. 5

   Whip the whites

   In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar mixed with the orange zest, one spoonful at a time, and beat until glossy medium peaks form. The peaks should bend at the tip. Stiff, dry whites make a cake that bakes tall and eats tough. No me vengas con atajos.

6. 6

   Fold the batter

   Sprinkle one third of the sifted flour over the yolk mixture and fold with a wide spatula. Fold in one third of the whites to loosen the batter, then alternate flour and whites until everything is combined. Work from the bottom of the bowl up through the center. Turn the bowl as you fold. You are preserving air, not stirring pancake batter.

7. 7

   Bake the sponge

   Pour the batter into the ungreased tube pan and smooth the top lightly. Bake for 32 to 38 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched and a skewer comes out clean. The top should be golden and slightly cracked. Those cracks are fine. This is home baking, not a beauty contest.

8. 8

   Cool upside down

   Invert the pan immediately over a bottle neck or the pan's feet and let the cake cool completely, about 1 hour. Cooling upside down keeps the sponge from collapsing. If you rush this, you worked for height and then threw it away.

9. 9

   Make the glaze

   While the cake cools, combine the chopped piloncillo, 3/4 cup orange juice, orange peel strip, saved vanilla pod, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, until the piloncillo dissolves and the syrup lightly coats a spoon. Strain and cool until warm, not hot.

10. 10

    Glaze and serve

    Run a thin knife around the pan and release the cake. Set it on a Tlacotalpan-style glazed earthenware plate. Brush the warm piloncillo-orange glaze over the top and sides in thin layers, letting each pass sink in before adding the next. Slice with a serrated knife and serve with cafe de olla or a small cup of chocolate. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •Use sweet oranges with fragrant peel, not fruit that smells like wet cardboard. If the oranges are weak, the cake will be weak. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •A whole vainilla de Papantla pod is expensive. I know. Use every part of it. The seeds go into the batter, the pod perfumes the glaze, and after that you can rinse and dry it for a jar of sugar.
• •Piloncillo belongs in the glaze because it gives mineral depth and a darker sweetness than refined sugar. Refined sugar makes a shiny syrup. Piloncillo makes a Veracruz syrup.
• •Do not garnish this with strawberries, mint, whipped cream, or anything that makes it look like hotel buffet cake. Orange, vanilla, piloncillo. That is enough.

Advance Preparation

• •The cake can be baked one day ahead, cooled completely, and kept covered at room temperature.
• •The piloncillo-orange glaze can be made two days ahead and refrigerated. Warm it gently before brushing it over the cake.
• •Once glazed, the cake keeps well for two days at room temperature. After that the crumb tightens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 100g)