Orange Juice and Olive Oil Cake with Pine Nuts

One more from Tessa Kiros's Apples for Jam.  Her recipe makes two 8 1/2 inch cakes, and they are the picture of simplicity.  For me, the batter was rather thick as I folded in the egg whites, almost elastic.  It turned out to be quite a nice snacking cake, and although Ms. Kiros suggests giving one to a friend (which is actually what I did) I can also imagine it as a lovely layer cake sandwiching a coating of citrus curd.  

Orange Juice and Olive Oil Cake with Pine Nuts

4 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup olive oil

3 1/3 cups flour

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

Zest of 1 orange

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (Kiros suggests 4 oranges, but I found 3 to be sufficient)

1/2 cup pine nuts

Preheat the oven to 350, grease 2 8 1/2 inch springform pans with olive oil and flour.  Whip the egg whites until they're firm, then whip the yolks with the vanilla until they attain some body and become foamy.  Whisk in the sugars, then gradually add the olive oil, mixing well.  Add the flour, baking powder, orange zest and juice and beat until the batter becomes smooth.  Gently fold in the egg whites.  

Divide the batter between the two pans and sprinkle the top of each with the pine nuts.  Bake for 35 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool before serving.

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I'm going to be out of town for a few days.  I'll be back in the middle of next week, hopefully with some interesting food discoveries from Norway.