Little Martha Stewart

So I bake for the science department in my high school every week, and I figure I may as well start posting my recipes.

This week's treat: Pumpkin and Cornmeal Cake with Orange Syrup

Ingredients:
For the cake -
8 oz (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs. finely grated orange zest
1 large egg
2 large eggs, separated
8 oz (1 cup) canned pure solid-pack pumpkin
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. table salt
1/2 cup fine-ground yellow cornmeal
sifted confectioners' sugar for garnish

For the syrup and for serving -
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 granulated sugar
vanilla yogurt or vanilla ice cream (optional)

Make the cake
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350 F.
2. Butter a 9-inch Bundt pan.
3. With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. One at a time, add the egg and egg yolks (remember to reserve the whites), beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition.
5. Beat in the pumpkin and vanilla.
6. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir in the cornmeal. Add this mixture to the pumpkin batter in three stages, stirring gently but thoroughly with a rubber spatula after each addition; don't overwork the batter.
7. In a clean bowl with a very clean whisk or a hand mixer, whip the reserved egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Gently fold the whites into the batter with the spatula until you no longer see streaks of white.
8. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan; smooth the surface.
9. Bake until the top of the cake is springy when lightly touched, the sides are beginning to pull away from the pan, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes.
10. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust the cake with sifted confectioners' sugar.

Make the syrup
1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the orange juice and sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to medium high. Boil without stirring for 2 minutes.
2. Serve each slice of cake drizzled with syrup and, if you like, accompanied by a scoop of vanilla yogurt or vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!!