1 cup cake flour, sifted

2 cup all purpose flour, sifted

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 tsp baking soda

2 1/3 tbsp buttermilk powder

3 cup sugar

1 cup butter, softened

7 large eggs, room temp

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tbsp orange zest

1 cup water

opt. turbinado sugar

Put oven rack in middle position, but do not preheat oven.

I don't have a sifter so I beat my flour with a whisk. Then I measure the desired amounts. Combine the whisked flour in a bowl with the dry ingredients and give it another good mixing.

I also don't have a tube or bundt pan. Instead I greased and floured an 9" cake pan which is 3" deep. In the center, I placed an oven proof ramekin, also greased and floured. Pretty good substitute!

Combine the wet ingredients, almond extract, zest and water. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. This takes quite a while by hand, which I find personally gratifying, but you can use a mixer. The sugar should almost be dissolved into the butter. Start adding eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each one. Roughly stir in half the flour, then pour in the wet ingredients. After another good whisking, stir in the rest of the flour. Keep whisking till the batter is creamy and shiny.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Place in the cold oven and turn on the heat to 350 degrees. Bake till golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. I found 1 hour to be sufficient. On a rack, cool cake for 30 minutes or when the cake has pulled away from the sides. Run a cake spatula around the edges of the cake, both inside and outside rings, and invert on the rack to cool the rest of the way.

Notes:

I find the best way to grease the pan is to use the butter wrapper as a smearing implement.

Often, I forget to place a round of greased and floured parchment at the bottom of the pan when I'm baking cakes. Really though, this is one of the most essential steps, because I can never get the darn thing back out again. Not an issue really with a home cake like this, but could be if I was trying to make it for a party.

For inspiration, I used an Epicurious recipe, supposedly a favorite of Elvis.