MRS. TATE'S OLD AND TRIED ORANGE CAKE

FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups flour, plus some for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar, sifted
1/2 cup water
5 egg yolks
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
4 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 egg whites
FOR THE GLAZE:
11/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice, as needed
1/3 teaspoon salt

Set oven rack in middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8-cup tube pan with vegetable spray or butter. Cut a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to line the bottom of the pan. Insert the liner, coat it with vegetable spray and dust the pan with flour.

TO MAKE THE CAKE:
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Beat sugar and water in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat in egg yolks, 1 at a time. Add orange zest and juice. Add sifted dry ingredients and combine until mixture is smooth. Add butter.

Place egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. (If you do not have 2 bowls, transfer the mixture in Step 3 into another bowl and thoroughly wash the mixer bowl before using it to beat whites.) Beat whites until stiff. Fold into batter. Pour batter into tube pan.

Bake 45 minutes, or until a tester inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool on rack for 20 minutes before removing from pan. Cake will have pulled away from the sides of the pan.

TO MAKE ORANGE GLAZE:
Mix together confectioners sugar, orange zest, orange juice and salt to a glaze consistency.

Slip a sheet of wax paper under rack to catch drips. Poke tiny holes in the top of the cake with a cake tester or a skewer and liberally spoon glaze over the cake. Let glaze harden before serving.

Source: Heirloom Baking With the Brass Sisters: More than 100 Years of Recipes Discovered From Family Cookbooks, Original Journals, Scraps of Paper, and Grandmother's Kitchen