Olive Oil Orange Flower Cake

Happy 2nd Birthday, Alice!

The basic recipe is from from Deb Madison. I made a couple of changes and added a glaze:

Olive Oil Orange Flower Cake
from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. p 702.

When baked, olive oil has a rich and somewhat mysterious flavor. This cake is high and handsome, much like a chiffon cake. In fact, call this a chiffon cake - people often balk at the idea, but not the taste, of an olive oil cake. Serve this delicate confection with a dessert wine or sherry and accompany with sliced nectarines, pears, berries and whipped cream flavored with apricot preserves.
Makes a tall, 10-inch cake, serving 10 to 12.

4 eggs, separated, plus 1 egg white, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 teaspoons orange flower water
Finely ground zest of 1 large orange and 1 lemon
1.2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/3 cups milk
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform or bundt pan.

Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then gradually add 1/3 cup of the sugar and continue beating until firm peaks form. Scrape them into a large bowl and set aside. In the same mixing bowl -don’t bother to rinse it- beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until thick and light coloured. Lower the speed, add the flavorings and salt, then gradually pour in the oil. The batter will be thick, like mayonnaise. Slowly add the milk, then whisk in the flour and flour and baking powder. Reach thoroughly around the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is well mixed. Fold in the egg whites. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes more or until a cake tester comes out clean and the cake has begun to pull away from the sides. (It’s better to err on the side of overbaking than underbaking this cake.) While the cake is still hot, pour the glaze over and around the sides. The cake will absorb most of the liquid, so let it sit and do so for a minimum of 15 minutes while it cools in the pan.

Glaze
Place a saucepan on the vented burner of your electric range or in front the vent on top of your gas range.
Add:
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup sugar
Juices of both the orange and the lemon zested for the cake
1/8 cup amaretto or cointreau (optional)
Stir to combine and periodically stir throughout the baking process as the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
Pour over the hot cake soon after taking it out of the oven and before removing it from the pan.

Remove the rim of the springform pan or invert, if using a bundt pan, onto a cooling rack. When cool, gently transfer to a cake plate and dust with powdered sugar.