PUMPKIN AND CORNMEAL CAKE

Steps:

• Position oven rack in middle of oven, preheat to 350 degrees.
• Butter a 9-inch bundt pan.
• With a mixer and paddle attachment, beat butter, zest and sugar until light and fluffy- about 3 minutes.
• One at a time, add egg and egg yolks, beating well and scraping sides of bowl after each addition.
• Beat in pumpkin and vanilla.
• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, stir in cornmeal.
• Add dry mixture to pumpkin batter in 3 staqges, stirring gently but thoroughly with rubber spatula after each addition.
• Do not overwork batter.
• In a clean bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks.
• Gently fold whites into batter with spatula until there are no longer any white streaks.
• Scrape batter into pan, smooth surface.
• Bake until top is springy when lightly touched, the sides should be pulling away from the pan and a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean- about 40-50 minutes.
• Let cool for 20 minutes and then invert cake onto a rack to cool completely.
• Dust with powdered sugar if you like.
• For Orange Syrup: In a small saucepan over low heat, combine orange juice and sugar, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
• Boil without stirring for 2 minutes.
• Serve each slice with a drizzle of warm syrup accompanied by yougurt or vanilla ice cream.