Orange Polenta Cake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 large orange
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup polenta
2/3 cup ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
4 None eggs, separated
1 tbsp orange-flavored liqueur (optional)
None None FOR THE ORANGE SYRUP
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350\u00b0F. Grease and line bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
Place whole orange in a small saucepan. Cover with water; weigh down with a small saucer (to keep orange submerged). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 15 mins until orange is very tender when tested with a skewer. Remove orange with a slotted spoon and cool for 10 mins. Chop coarsely, reserving juice and discarding seeds.
Place orange and any juice in a food processor and pulse briefly until finely chopped. Add butter, sugar, flour, polenta, ground almonds, baking powder, egg yolks and liqueur. Pulse until just combined.
Whisk egg whites in a separate clean bowl until soft peaks form. In 2 batches, fold egg whites into orange mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 mins until skewer inserted into center comes out clean.
For the orange syrup, combine all ingredients in a small saucepan on medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 mins until syrup thickens slightly. Set aside until cake is cooked.
Remove cake from oven and poke holes all over the surface with the skewer. Pour orange syrup over cake and let stand for 20 mins so syrup is absorbed into cake.