1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Magic baking powder
1/3 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
Zest of 1 small orange, finely grated and mixed with 2 teaspoons sugar

For dusting
about 1/4 cup icing sugar

o Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

o Grease 9 inch tube pan.

o Using an electric beater, beat eggs and sugar until creamy (about 4 minutes).

o Add vegetable oil. Mix well.

o Add orange juice.

o Add flour and mix well.

o Add Magic baking powder, mix well.

o Mix finely grated orange zest with 2 teaspoons sugar.

o Using a spatula mix orange zest with the batter.

o Pour batter in greased tube pan.

o Bake for about 45 minutes (or until cake is done).

o Cool.

o Turn upside down and dust with icing sugar before serving.

This recipe is very similar to "Elia's Lemon Cake" which was contributed by Mrs. Elia di Gerolomo's daughter, Micheline. Apparently, Micheline herself often substitutes orange juice for lemon juice, using the exact same proportions as the original recipe. However, I changed the proportions a bit and found the result very pleasing. I have experimented with using both extra-large eggs and large eggs and found that while both produce a nice enough cake, using large-sized eggs or even medium-sized eggs results in a cake that relies less on the taste of eggs which pleases me as I myself don't enjoy that flavor too much. Also using extra large eggs almost makes this dessert into an angel food cake which it isn't, so it is best to use smaller eggs in my opinion. .... Photo and personal notes: Mary Melfi.

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